A round-up of today’s other stories in brief
Police to question ex-Farc members
MADRID – Spanish police will travel to Colombia to question nine ex-members of guerrilla group Farc as part of an investigation into alleged links between Farc, the Venezuelan government and Basque separatists Eta, a legal source said yesterday.
The police hope the ex-members of Colombia’s Farc will help them to identify Eta members from photographs.
A Spanish judge has accused the Venezuelan government of facilitating contact between Farc and Eta. – (Reuters)
Smoking chimp dies aged 52
JOHANNESBURG – A chimpanzee once hooked on smoking by visitors offering it cigarettes has died at a South African zoo at the relatively advanced age of 52.
“Charlie the smoking chimp” used to put two fingers to his mouth to mimic smoking and reach out with his other hand for cigarettes from visitors at Bloemfontein Zoo.
Later zoo authorities took steps to cut off the supply.
The life expectancy for chimps in the wild is about 15 years. – (Reuters)
30 killed after ferry capsizes in Burma
YANGON – At least 30 people were killed and about two dozen are missing after a ferry, carrying mostly students and teachers, capsized in Burma’s southern Irrawaddy delta region yesterday.
Most of the passengers were students travelling to watch a football match when the overloaded boat sank in Labutta township. – (Reuters)
France’s largest railway union to support strikes
PARIS – France’s largest railway union will support a call for rolling strikes as of October 12th in a potentially serious escalation of protests over pension reform.
Didier Le Reste, head of the CGT’s rail union branch, made his position known as he headed into talks yesterday with other rail unions which mostly back such a move but were waiting on word from the CGT before deciding their next protest.
“The CGT will propose serving notice of an unlimited strike, renewable every 24 hours,” Le Reste told iTele, a TV station. – (Reuters)