Today's other stories in brief
Plea to save 'Cutty Sark' after fire
LONDON - An emotional plea for the world to help save the Cutty Sark was issued yesterday after the iconic 19th-century vessel was ravaged by fire.
The Cutty Sark Trust, the charity charged with preservation of the ship, spoke of the "devastation" of those involved in conservation work on the national landmark after yesterday's early-morning blaze.
Police said they are treating the fire on the ship, in dry dock at Greenwich, southeast London, as suspicious and are appealing for witnesses to come forward. - (PA)
Gunman's wife found dead
LOS ANGELES - The wife of a gunman who killed two people and himself during a shooting rampage was found dead inside her home, US police said yesterday.
Crystal Hamilton (30) died of a single gunshot to the head, Latah County sheriff Wayne Rausch said.
Authorities believe she was killed before her husband, Jason Hamilton, went on his spree in Moscow, Idaho, on Saturday night and early Sunday, Rausch said. - (AP)
Appeal for photos in Madeleine case
ALGARVE - Police yesterday asked holidaymakers who visited the Portuguese resort where Madeleine McCann went missing to send in their photographs in an attempt to identify her abductor.
Officers said they were interested in any images taken at the Ocean Club resort or surrounding area in the Algarve in the two weeks before the abduction.
The pictures will be run through a cutting-edge facial recognition programme and cross-referenced against a database of suspects. - (PA)
Bishop escapes disciplinary action
LONDON - The Church of England will not take disciplinary action against the Bishop of Southwark, Dr Tom Butler, after he lost his belongings and suffered head injuries following a Christmas party. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said "no further action" would be taken.
Dr Butler said in December that it would have been "entirely out of character" if he had been drunk following the Irish Embassy party. - (PA)
Threats scupper American festival
PARIS - A festival due to be held in Paris this weekend to celebrate American music and culture has been called off after death threats from an anti-US group claiming links to al-Qaeda.
Organisers of the Three Days in America festival said the decision to postpone the event - also aimed at demonstrating "Franco-American friendship" - was taken to safeguard the public. - (Guardian service)
Romanian PM rejects calls to quit
BUCHAREST - Romanian prime minister Calin Tariceanu's Liberal Party rejected calls to quit government yesterday after voters overwhelmingly backed his opponent, president Traian Basescu, in Saturday's impeachment referendum.
Faced with exit polls showing that even Liberal supporters voted against impeaching Mr Basescu, some party leaders had suggested the grouping had lost the mandate to govern. - (Reuters)
Free sandwiches poison voters
GUATEMALA CITY - More than 120 people were rushed to hospital with food poisoning after eating free sandwiches served to lure supporters to a political rally for Guatemala's leading presidential candidate, Alvaro Colom.
Hospital director Oscar Canek said the tainted ham sandwiches, served at a lunch on Sunday in the town of Escuintla, caused severe vomiting and diarrhoea. - (Reuters)