Other foreign news in brief
Firebrand US senator Jesse Helms dies
WASHINGTON -Former US senator Jesse Helms, a diehard anti-communist firebrand who championed a wide range of conservative causes in his 30 years in the Senate, died early yesterday aged 86, his foundation said.
A blunt-talking product of the Old South, the North Carolina politician was known as "Senator No" for opposing just about anything that obstructed his conservative view of the world. - (Reuters)
Iran responds to incentives
TEHRAN- Iran has responded to an incentives package offered by six world powers aimed at resolving a stand-off over the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear ambitions, the official Irna news agency said.
The agency said Tehran's reply was submitted to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, but did not give any details about its content. - (Reuters)
State moves in to save Pompeii
ROME- The Italian government has declared a state of emergency at the Pompeii archaeological site to try to rescue one of the world's most important cultural treasures from decades of neglect.
Pompeii was buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. - (Reuters)
Volcanic role in building Mercury
WASHINGTON- Volcanic activity has played a central role in forging the surface of Mercury, scientists said on Thursday, based on data collected by a Nasa spacecraft that zoomed past the closest planet to the sun in January.
The Messenger spacecraft also sent back information about Mercury's magnetic field and that the extremely dense planet has been shrinking more than expected over the eons. - (Reuters)
Pope to visit Paris and Lourdes
VATICAN CITY- Pope Benedict will visit Paris and the shrine of Lourdes in southwest France from September 12th-15th. The main purpose would be to commemorate the 150th anniversary of when Our Lady was said to have appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. - (Reuters)
Farmers seek badger cull
LONDON- Farmers last night threatened legal action if the British government decides not to allow a cull of badgers to tackle tuberculosis in cattle.
National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall said reports that environment secretary Hilary Benn was not going to authorise a cull would be "nothing short of a disaster" if true. - ( PA)
Answers sought on death report
LUSAKA- Zambia has demanded that South Africa explain why President Thabo Mbeki announced publicly that Zambian leader Levy Mwanawasa had died.
South Africa's foreign ministry issued a statement saying there was a misunderstanding after Mr Mbeki said he had been told by the executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community that Mr Mwanawasa was dead. - (Reuters)