Today's other stories in brief
Father and son killed in attack on Roma family
A father and his five-year-old son were shot dead in an attack on a Roma family home in Hungary yesterday and two children were injured when the house caught fire, local news agency MTI reported.
The attack in Tatarszentgyorgy, a village 65km (40 miles) southeast of Budapest, is the latest in a series of attacks on Roma houses in which seven people have died over the past year. – (Reuters)
Palestinians warn of Israeli evictions
JERUSALEM – Palestinians said yesterday the Israeli-controlled municipality of Jerusalem was preparing to evict 1,500 Palestinians and demolish more than 80 homes in the eastern part of the disputed city.
Fakhri Abu Diab of the Committee for the Defence of the Territory of Silwan said demolition orders had been issued on the pretext that the homes had been built without the required zoning and construction permits. He said the real motive was ethnic cleansing. – (Reuters)
Croatia’s EU reforms ‘at risk’
ZAGREB – Croatia’s reform efforts are at risk if Slovenia continues to block its bid for EU membership, a senior Croatian lawmaker warned yesterday, a day before the first meeting of the two countries’ prime ministers.
EU-member Slovenia vetoed 11, or roughly one-third, of negotiating areas in Zagreb's EU bid in December, over a border row that dates from 1991 when the two quit communist Yugoslavia. – ( Reuters)
Ban still ‘willing’ to visit Burma
UNITED NATIONS – UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said yesterday he remained willing to visit Burma but aides said the ruling junta needed to move further toward political liberalisation before a trip could take place.
Some Security Council members say they would welcome a visit by Mr Ban after his special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, made little headway during a recent trip on UN demands that the junta free political prisoners and talk to the opposition. – (Reuters)
Libyans end talks on oil plan
TRIPOLI – Libyans ended meetings yesterday to discuss a plan by leader Muammar Gadafy to disband the government and hand the country’s oil money directly to its people.
Col Gadafy argues that corruption is so deeply entrenched in the government that the only way to cure Libya of graft is to disband the ministries and hand out more than $30 billion (€23.6 billion) in oil revenue this year to its five million people. – (Reuters)
US judge returns after surgery
WASHINGTON – US supreme court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the bench yesterday after her surgery for pancreatic cancer.
The liberal Ms Ginsburg (75), the only woman on the nine-member court, had surgery on February 5th. The court has said her cancer had not spread and was found in an early stage when it is most curable. – (Reuters)
Staff at Berlin airports to strike
BERLIN – Berlin’s two international airports are expected to be hit by strikes this morning as workers press for an 8 per cent pay rise.
Coming after a shorter strike on February 12th that had limited impact, public service sector union Verdi said walkouts at Tegel and Schoenefeld airports would be staged from 6am to 9.30am local time. – (Reuters)