World briefs - December 14, 2005
December 14, 2005 Edition 1
Protesters to face music
Addis Ababa - About 3 000 people detained during violence that rocked Ethiopia last month will face trial for roles in the clashes in which at least 48 people were killed, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament yesterday. It was not clear how he arrived at the figure as federal police said about 14 000 were arrested during and after protests against alleged fraud in the May polls.
Image of elderly challenged
Madrid - Lawmakers yesterday urged the Spanish government to overhaul state-run television's depiction of elderly people, saying most of the time they are seen as poor, alone and ill-humoured. The resolution sponsored by the conservative Popular Party was passed unanimously by the lower house of parliament. Elderly people shown on state-run TV are more often than not living in nursing homes.
Far from home
Belgrade - Two white lion cubs in their enclosure at Belgrade Zoo in Serbia-Montenegro yesterday. They were donated by the Kruger National Park. The white lion is an extremely rare sub-species of the African lion, and the Belgrade Zoo now has two of the three white lions in European zoos.
General held over killing
Paris - The general who led French peacekeepers in Ivory Coast when members of his force killed a prisoner has been taken into police custody and placed under investigation - a step short of being charged. The investigation of General Henri Poncet follows a colonel's claim that the officer implicitly ordered the death of a prisoner, who was suffocated by French soldiers in an armoured vehicle.
Holocaust critic can be tried
Strasbourg - A far-right French leader and member of the EU was stripped of his immunity from court proceedings yesterday, allowing French authorities to prosecute him for casting doubt on the Holocaust. Bruno Gollnisch, a top official in the National Front party, had publicly questioned whether the Nazis used gas chambers and suggested the number of Jews killed might have been exaggerated.
Turks more aware of rights
Ankara - More and more Turks are filing complaints over alleged rights violations as their country's drive to join the EU puts such issues under the spotlight. The Human Rights Directorate, overseen by the prime minister's office, yesterday said it had received petitions on 1 730 counts of alleged rights violations in the first nine months of the year, compared with 1 213 in the same period last year.
Call to unban Iranian group
London - A host of parliamentarians yesterday called on the government to unban an Iranian opposition group proscribed under anti-terror legislation. A total of 279 of the 646 MPs and 126 lords said that using the terror label against the People's Mujahedeen of Iran was "the most important impediment" to democratic change in Iran. The group is listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU and US.
British 'kidnapped' seven
Athens - A Greek lawyer yesterday claimed that seven Pakistani immigrants were abducted and questioned by British agents in Greece after the July 7 bomb attacks in London. Lawyer Frangiskos Ragoussis said his clients - who all live in Athens - were interrogated and verbally abused for several days before being released. Greece's Public Order Ministry denied any involvement in such an incident.
Sudanese to return home
Geneva - The first of 500 000 Sudanese refugees who fled their homeland over the past two decades are to return to the war-town south this weekend, the UN said yesterday. About 150 refugees -
"a small but symbolic number" - who have been living in the Kakuma camp in north-western Kenya are to go back to Sudan on Saturday under the first organised voluntary repatriation.
Italy upsets EU over banks
Strasbourg - The EU Commission yesterday launched a legal case against Italy for obstructing takeovers of domestic banks by foreign financial institutions. The Italian government will be given two months to explain its actions. If Rome fails to justify itself, legal action could lead to a case before the European Court of Justice. The Bank of Italy has been under EU scrutiny for favouring Italian banks.
Pope condemns fanatics
Vatican City - In the first New Year's peace message of his reign, Pope Benedict XVI has condemned terrorism and religious fanaticism, and called for a halt to military spending and the nuclear arms race. He said yesterday that countries which incited their citizens to hostility against other nations - a veiled reference to a recent anti-Israeli diatribe by Iran - bore a "heavy burden of responsibility".
