A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Body found was that of TV presenter
LONDON- The body of missing BBC children's television presenter Mark Speight was found hanging from the roof of a London railway station, it was confirmed yesterday.
Network Rail staff discovered the body in a remote area next to Paddington station, out of public view, on Sunday morning, British Transport Police said.
"British Transport Police can confirm that a body, believed to be that of 42-year-old missing person Mark Speight, was found hanging in a building adjacent to Paddington railway station yesterday morning," the statement said. - (Reuters)
Party post for Putin planned
MOSCOW- Russia's biggest political party said yesterday it would create a new post of party chairman and offer the job to outgoing President Vladimir Putin at its conference this week.
"We are now talking about a concrete post which we intend to offer to Vladimir Putin, the post of chairman of the party," United Russia chief Boris Gryzlov told reporters. - (Reuters)
'Le Monde' staff go on strike
PARIS- Journalists at Le Monde went on strike for only the second time in the paper's history yesterday in protest at heavy cuts in newsroom staff.
Le Monde, read by some two million people every day, is one of the country's most influential newspapers, with extensive contacts in the French establishment and an unwaveringly intellectual tone.
A new management team told staff earlier this month that the group would have to sell a number of titles and cut 130 newsroom staff, including a quarter of its 340 journalists. - (Reuters)
Inmates die in Jordan jail riot
AMMAN- Three inmates were killed and scores injured at a Jordanian prison when riots broke out leading to widespread ransacking and prisoners lighting fires.
The clashes at al-Muaqar prison, southeast of the capital, were in protest at poor conditions and a new system of classifying prisoners.- (Reuters)
France wants to try pirates
PARIS- France is pushing Somalia to allow French courts try six pirates captured in a commando raid last week following a yacht hijacking, foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday.
French special forces swooped on the pirates last week in Somali territory shortly after they had released their 30 hostages - who included 22 French - and picked up a ransom estimated at $2 million (€1.26 million). - (Reuters)
Cubans snap up mobile phones
HAVANA- Hundreds of Cubans lined up at state-owned telephone offices yesterday to buy mobile phone services previously available only to government officials and foreigners.
President Raul Castro, who took power in February, has moved quickly to ease restrictions in the communist country and the new reform allows Cubans to buy mobile phones for the first time or register those they had held illegally. - (Reuters)
Dinosaur skeleton for sale
PARIS- The skeleton of a Triceratops dinosaur that roamed the earth some 65 million years ago goes under the hammer in Paris tomorrow as part of a collection of prehistoric bones and fossils. The 7.5 metre-long skeleton is the first such specimen to be sold at auction since a Tyrannosaurus Rex was sold in New York in 1997. - (Reuters)