Today's other stories in brief
Merkel to act quickly on new EU treaty
BERLIN - Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel has set out her EU presidency timetable for resurrecting Europe's constitutional treaty and reviving the drive for closer integration.
In a letter to fellow EU leaders a day after taking charge of the union on January 1st, she called for support in national capitals for a new "political declaration" of the EU's purpose, and a joint push to get the constitution back on track.
Dr Merkel intends to present proposals at a June summit for salvaging as much as possible of the original plan, and getting it up and running in 2008.
To do so, she says in her letter, she wants to start a series of meetings at the end of this month or in early February: "A viable proposal for the June European Council [ summit] can be developed only on the basis of intensive consultations with all partners." - (PA)
Gas stench clears New York offices
NEW YORK - A powerful mysterious smell of natural gas wafted over much of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey yesterday, forcing building evacuations and a temporary suspension of commuter train services before dissipating.
Seven people were taken to hospital in New Jersey, just across the Hudson river from New York, even though mayor Michael Bloomberg said the odour was not dangerous and no unusual gas leaks had been found. - ( Reuters)
Miami bomb squad on alert
MIAMI - A police bomb squad was sent to the port of Miami yesterday to investigate a suspicious item being unloaded from a truck, but police could not confirm television news reports that tests had detected C-4 explosives.
Scanning instruments detected an anomaly on a pallet being removed from a truck, and the Miami-Dade County police bomb squad was sent to the busy port for further investigation. - ( Reuters)
Man linked to 9/11 gets 15 years
HAMBURG - A German court yesterday sentenced a Moroccan friend of the 9/11 hijackers to 15 years in prison for being an accessory to mass murder.
Mounir El Motassadeq, a member of a group of radical Arab students in Hamburg who helped to organise the 2001 attacks, is one of only two men convicted of involvement in the plot that resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. - (Reuters)
US ambassador for UN post
NEW YORK - The US ambassador to Indonesia is expected to be named as UN undersecretary-general for political affairs, diplomatic sources said yesterday.
The leading candidate for the job, which will probably be announced this week by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, is B Lynn Pascoe (63) who served in several posts in Asia during the 1990s. - ( Reuters)
14 drifting ferry victims rescued
MAKASSAR - Fourteen survivors of an Indonesian ferry sinking have been rescued after drifting on a life raft for nine days, surviving on biscuits, seaweed and rain water, a rescue official and survivors said yesterday. The ferry sank in the Java sea with more than 600 people aboard on December 29th. - (Reuters)
Two Moroccan journalists face jail
RABAT - Two Moroccan journalists who published a list of popular jokes about religion, sex and politics should be jailed for up to five years and their magazine banned, the state prosecutor said yesterday.
The authorities ordered Nichane, whose title means "As It Is", off news stands last month after Casablanca's state prosecutor took legal action. - ( Reuters)