A roundup of today's other world news in brief:
Burma may free leader of opposition
SINGAPORE- Burma was reported last night to have given the strongest hint yet that detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could soon be released.
The regime's foreign minister, Nyan Win, told a meeting of his counterparts from other southeast Asian countries that the legal limit for the Nobel laureate's detention would expire in about six months.
George Yeo, the foreign minister of Singapore who was hosting the meeting, said the clear inference he drew from the remarks were that Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed in about six months.
- (Guardian service)
Chinese police kill two protesters
BEIJING- Chinese police killed two people in a clash with local residents in the southwestern province of Yunnan, according to official media, in the latest of several mass disturbances.
State news agency Xinhua said police used baton guns after they were attacked by about 400 local residents in Menglian County, a rubber farming area.
- (Guardian service)
Serb diplomats may return to EU
BELGRADE- Serbia will decide this week whether to return its diplomats to European Union countries, as it tries to improve ties with the bloc and win candidate status by the end of 2008, foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said yesterday.
The ambassadors were pulled from countries that recognised Kosovo's independence from Serbia earlier this year.
- (Reuters)
Military stand-off over temple row
PHNOM PENH- Cambodia has complained to the UN Security Council about its military stand-off with Thailand over an ancient temple on their disputed border.
Hundreds of Thai and Cambodian troops faced each other at the Preah Vihear temple for a sixth day yesterday, a stand-off that some fear could turn violent.
- (Reuters)
Eight killed in Kashmir clashes
SRINAGAR- Two Indian soldiers, including an officer, and four suspected Muslim militants were killed in separate gun battles in Kashmir, while two others died in a grenade attack, the army said yesterday.
The violence flared up across the Himalayan region ahead of a new round of India-Pakistan peace talks today that are opposed by Kashmiri separatist militants.
- (Reuters)
MoD laptop theft in Liverpool
LONDON- The British Ministry of Defence last night confirmed another laptop with "sensitive information" has been stolen while one of their officials checked out of a hotel.
An MoD spokesman said the theft from the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool city centre on Thursday, brought the total of laptops stolen to 659.
- (PA)
Belgian king in unity call
BRUSSELS- Belgium's King Albert issued a plea for unity yesterday in a televised message as political leaders seek a solution to a crisis dividing Dutch- and French-speaking regions.
"We must invent new ways to live together in our country," the monarch said in a broadcast speech on the eve of the country's national holiday today.
"As you well know, our country is going through serious political difficulties, but I would like to observe that difficulties and crises are also a time to rally and rebound," he said. Last week, he rejected the prime minister's resignation.