A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Doomsday Clock closer to midnight
WASHINGTON -The scientists who mind the Doomsday Clock have moved it two minutes closer to midnight - symbolising the annihilation of civilisation - adding the perils of global warming for the first time to acute nuclear threats.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 to warn the world of the dangers of nuclear weapons, yesterday advanced the clock to five minutes until midnight. It was the first adjustment of the clock since 2002. - ( Reuters )
US surveillance scheme moved
WASHINGTON -US president George Bush has decided not to reauthorise the controversial domestic warrantless surveillance programme for terrorism suspects and to put it under the authority of a secret special court, according to attorney general Alberto Gonzales. - ( Reuters )
Egyptian woman positive for bird flu
CAIRO -An Egyptian woman has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, a World Health Organisation official has said. The virus has claimed 10 lives in Egypt while eight other positive cases recovered since it first surfaced in Egyptian poultry in February. - (Reuters)
100 million lack safe water, says UN
GENEVA - More than 100 million people in Europe, including the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, have no clean running water in their homes and thousands fall seriously ill each year as a result, according to UN agencies.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the World Health Organisation said 16 per cent of households in what they term the European region lack access to safe drinking water. - (Reuters)
Yanukovich ally dies from wounds
KIEV - An ally of Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, who was accidentally shot during a hunting expedition, has died from his wounds.
Evhen Kushnaryov, one of the leaders of Mr Yanukovich's Regions party, was brought into intensive care late on Tuesday after he was struck by several bullets during a hunting trip. He died yesterday. - ( Reuters )
10 fired after radio competition death
LOS ANGELES -A California radio station has fired 10 staff members after a contest to drink as much water as possible to win a new Nintendo Wii game console resulted in a woman's death, a company spokesman has said.
Jennifer Strange (28), a mother of three, died on Friday from water intoxication after taking part in a "Hold your wee for a Wii" competition on a radio show on Sacramento station KDND. - ( Reuters )
James Brown yet to be buried
ATLANTA -Nearly three weeks after James Brown's funeral, the "Godfather of Soul" is yet to be buried and his former partner is contesting his will in a bid to receive half of his estate.
Brown's body is being kept in a temperature- controlled room at his home in South Carolina in the bronze and gold-plated coffin used for his funeral in Augusta, Georgia, on December 30th, the funeral director said yesterday. - ( Reuters )