Today's other stories in brief
Berlusconi aide put under investigation
ROME – A top aide of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and one of Italy's best-known public figures was put under investigation yesterday as part of an inquiry into contracts to build the original site of last year's G8 summit.
Mr Berlusconi has praised Guido Bertolaso, head of the civil protection department, for his area’s response to natural disasters, including the L’Aquila earthquake last April.
Mr Bertolaso handed in his resignation after police searched the department’s headquarters in Rome and gave him an official notice of investigation. – (Reuters)
Palestinian policeman kills Israeli soldier
JERUSALEM – A Palestinian police officer stabbed and killed an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank yesterday, the military said, in an attack that could place more strain on US efforts to revive Middle East peace talks.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s government issued a rare condemnation of the attack, calling for “peaceful resistance” to Israel.
An Israeli army spokesman said the assailant stabbed a non-commissioned officer as he sat in his vehicle at an intersection outside the West Bank city of Nablus. The assailant was then run down by a passing Israeli motorist and arrested. – (Reuters)