A round up of today's other stories in short
Slovenia backs early EU pact with Serbia
LJUBLJANA - New EU president Slovenia said yesterday it wanted Serbia to take a key step towards future membership this month, but acknowledged some EU states needed to be convinced.
Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel told reporters he wanted Serbia to sign a stabilisation and association agreement, the first rung on the ladder to eventual accession.
... "I am one of those who believe the [ stabilisation agreement] should be signed as soon as possible, possibly by the end of this month, but some of our colleagues have to be persuaded," Mr Rupel said. - (Reuters)
Taylor trial told of boy's torture
THE HAGUE - Child soldiers serving with rebels in Sierra Leone dismembered a screaming boy before tossing him in a toilet pit, a pastor who survived a massacre told the trial of Charles Taylor yesterday.
The former Liberian president, once one of Africa's most feared warlords, is on trial for orchestrating rape, murder, mutilation and recruitment of child soldiers during the 1991-2002 civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
In harrowing testimony, Alex Tamba Teh (47) told the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone how he saw a rebel commander from Liberia shoot 101 people. - (Reuters)
Colombia captures key rebel leader
BOGOTA - Colombia captured a commander of the country's second biggest rebel force who led the group's radical wing in opposing peace talks, defence minister Juan Manuel Santos said yesterday.
The arrest of Carlos Marin, known as "Pablito", may help jump-start talks held in Cuba between moderate leaders of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, and the Colombian government. - (Reuters)
EU confirms date of battery hen ban
BRUSSELS - The European Commission refusal to delay a ban on battery cages was hailed by animal welfare groups today as a victory against intensive farming.
A commission report says the ban on keeping laying hens in tiny cages should come into effect in 2012 as planned, despite calls from farmers for more time to prepare. - (PA)
UN peacekeepers in Sudan attacked
DARFUR - The Sudanese army shot at a "clearly marked" UN convoy in war-torn Darfur, critically wounding a driver, the United Nations said today.
The UN condemned last night's attack, the first against the peacekeepers since their mission began this month. - (Reuters)
Bush backs Turkey's stance against PKK
WASHINGTON - US president George Bush yesterday said the United States would continue to help Turkey fight their "common enemy", Kurdish rebels, but the White House also urged Ankara to find a political solution to the problem.
During a White House visit by Turkish president Abdullah Gul, Mr Bush praised Turkey as a model for democracy in the Muslim world and pledged US support in its fight to contain the PKK. - (Reuters)
Billiard players come unstuck
PRAGUE - Two Czechs stuck in a billiard table while searching for a ball had to call the fire brigade and were freed only when rescuers took the table apart.
At first, the two players in the western Czech city of Karlovy Vary thought it was funny when both of their hands became trapped inside the table.
"Their trapped hands hurt them quite a bit," a fire brigade spokesman said."In the end we had no other option but to dismantle the entire table." - (Reuters)