Today's other stories in brief
Olmert seeks to blame Israeli army
JERUSALEM - Israeli leader Ehud Olmert cast blame on the military for failings in the Lebanon war in testimony released yesterday to an inquiry whose criticism of his own conduct has him battling for political survival.
"I think the army disappointed itself to a large degree," the prime minister told the Winograd Commission investigating last year's costly war against Lebanon's Hizbullah guerrillas.
"Something in the command and control concept did not meet expectations and undoubtedly led to a disparity between what we were capable of achieving and what we actually achieved," Mr Olmert said. - (Reuters)
Rice 'troubled' by Kremlin stance
WASHINGTON - US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, speaking before a visit to Moscow, said yesterday that she was troubled by the concentration of power in the Kremlin and said US-Russia relations were in a "difficult period". "As with any relationship it is complicated, as with any big relationship," Dr Rice, who leaves for her trip on Sunday, told a Senate subcommittee. - (Reuters)
Search for girl (3) is winding down
LISBON- The search for missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who was abducted in a holiday resort a week ago, is coming to an end, Portuguese police said last night.
The Policia Judiciaria said last night that the search had not yet been called off but conceded that it was being wound down.
Chief Insp Olegario Sousa said an area of 200sq km (125sq miles) had been searched: "The area that they covered until now, and all the places that have been checked, the results are zero," he said. - (PA)
Farc bomb kills 10 Colombian troops
BOGOTA - Ten Colombian soldiers died yesterday when left-wing rebels detonated a bomb on a rural road in the second major guerrilla attack in two days, military officials said.
Gen Hernando Perez blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest rebel group, known as the Farc, for the attack in Valle del Cauca province, 230 km (143 miles) southwest of Bogotá. - (Reuters)
Further unrest over Sarkozy win
PARIS - Attackers torched nearly 200 cars overnight across France, police said yesterday, in the fourth night of unrest after the presidential election victory of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy. The latest figure compares to nearly 292 cars set ablaze overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, suggesting violence is simmering down.- (Reuters)
Uzbek dissident's sentence doubled
TASHKENT - An Uzbek court has doubled the sentence handed down to a witness of killings in the town of Andizhan to nearly 12 years, a human rights group said yesterday.
Gulbahor Turayeva, a doctor and human rights campaigner who witnessed government troops firing on civilians in Andizhan in May 2005, was sentenced to six years in prison in April on charges including anti-constitutional activities and slander. - (Reuters)
Beijing mayor sees red over billboards
BEIJING - Billboards that promote luxury and indulgence undermine the goal of maintaining harmony between the rich and the poor, Beijing's mayor has complained.
"Many use exaggerated terms that encourage luxury and self-indulgence which are beyond the reach of low-income groups and are therefore not conducive to harmony in the capital," Wang Qishan told a seminar on advertising. - (Reuters)