A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Lockerbie convict drops second appeal
EDINBURGH– The former Libyan agent jailed for the murder of 270 people in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has withdrawn his second appeal against his conviction, his lawyer said yesterday.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi (57), who is dying of prostate cancer, must drop his appeal to be considered for repatriation under a prisoner transfer agreement signed by Britain and Libya. – (Reuters)
Turkey to begin Kurdish reforms
ISTANBUL– Turkey's government will begin implementing reforms to answer the grievances of its Kurdish minority by the end of the year, prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said.
Ankara said last month it would grant more rights to the nation's estimated 12 million Kurds and seek co-operation from opposition parties in trying to end a 25-year conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). – (Reuters)
US official in Belarus talks
MINSK– Former Soviet state Belarus moved closer to the West with a visit by the most senior US official since Minsk ordered Washington's envoy out over a year ago.
US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs Phillip Gordon held talks with presidential officials – though not President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been accused for years of crushing human rights. – (Reuters)
Court validates Moldovan election
CHISINAU– Moldova's constitutional court has confirmed the results of last month's parliamentary election, which gave pro-western parties the upper hand over the incumbent Communist Party.
The court recommended outgoing president Vladimir Voronin should set the date for the first sitting of parliament, which is expected to take place by the end of this month.
The opposition parties, who have formed a coalition, have 53 seats in parliament – enough to form a government. – (Reuters)
Berlusconi quake offer accepted
ROME– A man made homeless by April's earthquake in central Italy has asked Silvio Berlusconi to keep his promise and provide victims with lodging in one of his houses.
Antonio Bernardini, whose home in the mountain city of L'Aquila was destroyed, wrote to Italy's Civil Protection agency saying he would like to stay in Mr Berlusconi's luxurious seaside Sardinian villa or his residence in central Rome, "if possible". – (Reuters)
‘Corrie’ to mark 50 years with musical
LONDON– A stage musical version of Coronation Streetis being planned as part of the soap's 50th birthday celebrations next year.
Composer Trisha Ward is working alongside the programme's scriptwriters to create the musical. – (PA)
Nazi slogan ‘legal’ in translation
BERLIN– Nazis slogans banned in Germany may be legal if they are translated from German into English, one of the country's highest courts has ruled.
The Federal Court of Justice said it had rescinded a conviction against a man fined €4,200 for possessing 100 T-shirts due for sale emblazoned with the words “Blood Honour” – a translation of the Hitler Youth slogan “Blut und Ehre”.
The display of Nazi symbols is forbidden in Germany, but the court said the context of the original phrase had been sufficiently distorted to render its usage legal.
"By translation into another language, the Nazi slogan, which is characterised not just by its meaning but also by the German language, is fundamentally transformed," it said. – (Reuters)