A round-up of today's other world news in brief ...
Alleged Nazi's deportation appeal rejected
BERLIN – Accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk (86), who is awaiting trial in Germany, lost an appeal yesterday against his deportation from the US.
Germany’s constitutional court ruled that Mr Demjanjuk had given no substantiated reason to back his appeal that his deportation infringed his basic rights. – (Reuters)
Ex-Khmer Rouge fighter testifies
PHNOM PENH – A former fighter for the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s told a Cambodian court yesterday how he was suspected of turning against the Pol Pot regime, arrested and beaten unconscious, waking up beneath bodies in a burial pit.
Phork Khan (57) was testifying at the trial of Duch, head of the Khmer Rouge’s S-21 interrogation centre in Phnom Penh, who faces life in prison if convicted on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder.
Duch has admitted his part in the thousands of deaths at the prison but says he was following orders. – (Reuters)
Korean man’s genes mapped
HONG KONG – Scientists have sequenced the entire gene map of a Korean male and linked DNA variations unique to him to possible susceptibility to various cancers and other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
It is the fifth human genome to be sequenced to date, the earlier four being that of an African, two individuals of northwest European descent, and a Chinese man. – (Reuters)
EU extends use of Welsh
BRUSSELS – The use of the Welsh language in EU institutions takes another step forward today – but there are no plans for it to become Europe’s 24th “official” language.
A deal to be signed in Brussels by the UK’s ambassador to the EU, Sir Kim Darroch, means Welsh speakers can, if they wish, write to and receive a response from the European Commission in Welsh.
The accord follows similar agreements last year which allowed the use of Welsh in EU ministerial meetings and at meetings of the EU’s committee of the regions. – (PA)
US denies deal on Israel settlements
JERUSALEM – A US official denied an Israeli newspaper report yesterday that Washington had agreed to the continued construction of 2,500 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, despite its calls for a freeze.
The report in Israel’s Maariv daily followed Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak’s talks in London on Monday with US envoy George Mitchell on ending a rift with Washington over its demand to stop the building on land that Palestinians seek for a state.
Asked in Washington whether the report was true, US state department spokesman Ian Kelly replied: “No, that report in the Israeli media outlet is incorrect.” – (Reuters)
Man tries to give away 52,000
MADRID – A drunken Briton celebrated an inheritance by trying to give it away to strangers at a Spanish airport, government-run news agency EFE reported yesterday.
The unidentified man (59), who was reportedly dressed like a tramp, laughed as he started handing out €52,000 worth of traveller’s cheques and bank notes at Palma airport on the holiday island of Majorca before police stopped him, EFE said.
The man, who had apparently just received the money as an inheritance and had arrived on a flight from Manchester, was bundled onto a flight back to Britain by police. – (Reuters)