Today's other stories in brief
Guantanamo set for new $66m facilities
The United States military is planning to build a $66 million (€51 million) compound to hold war crimes trials at Guantánamo Bay naval base, including a two-courtroom facility, dining areas and accommodation for as many as 1,200 people.
The elaborate facility, scheduled to be completed by July, represents one of the most significant upgrades at the isolated base in Cuba since it began taking in men captured by the US in January 2002.
Uribe calls for confessions
BOGOTA - Colombian president Alvaro Uribe yesterday called on all lawmakers with links to illegal right-wing militias to confess, a move to contain a crisis threatening his congressional coalition.
Last week the supreme court ordered the arrest of three congressmen from Uribe-friendly parties for financing paramilitary groups. - (Reuters)
Staff back rescue plan at 'Libération'
PARIS - Staff at French newspaper Libération narrowly backed a rescue plan yesterday which will refinance the paper in exchange for deep job cuts, trade unions at the paper said. The plan calls for an end to the staff's right of veto over certain decisions and provides for redundancies. - (Reuters)
Dutch inquiry into Iraq abuse claims
AMSTERDAM - The Dutch government ordered an independent inquiry yesterday into a report that Dutch military intelligence abused prisoners in Iraq in 2003, hoping to limit a scandal just days before a general election.
Leading Dutch daily Volkskrant said intelligence officers had abused dozens of prisoners during heavy-handed interrogations. - (Reuters)
US signs up to logging ban
WASHINGTON - The United States has signed a pact to help stop illegal logging in Indonesia, home to most of the world's orangutans and many other endangered species, the US Trade Representative's office said yesterday. - (Reuters)