A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Sarkozy sues over text message claim
PARIS -French president Nicolas Sarkozy has taken legal action against the website of the magazine Le Nouvel Observateurover an article describing what it said was a text message he had sent his ex-wife Cecilia, his lawyer said yesterday. The Nouvel Observateurwebsite said Mr Sarkozy had sent Cecilia a text message shortly before his marriage to Carla Bruni concerning his relationship with Cecilia. - (Reuters)
Guantánamo loses military records
GUANTÁNAMO -The US military has lost a year's worth of records describing the Guantánamo interrogation and confine- ment of Osama bin Laden's driver, a prosecutor said at the Yemeni captive's war court hearing yesterday.
Lawyers for the driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, asked for the records to support their argument that prolonged isolation and harassment at the prison had mentally impaired him and compromised his ability to aid in his defence on war crimes charges.
One of the prosecutors, Navy Lieut Cmdr Timothy Stone said the military could not find the records and were still looking for them. - (Reuters)
25% US women suffer violence
WASHINGTON -About a quarter of American women suffer domestic violence, US health officials reported yesterday, and had ongoing health problems that one activist likened to the effects of living in a war zone.
Some men also experience domestic violence, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found.
The CDC said 23.6 per cent of women and 11.5 per cent of men reported being a victim of what it called "intimate partner violence" at some time in their lives. - (Reuters)
Britney's life at risk, say parents
LOS ANGELES -The parents of pop star Britney Spears said their daughter is in the middle of a mental crisis, and they fear her life is at risk since leaving a hospital where she was under psychiatric care.
"As parents of an adult child in the throes of a mental health crisis, we were extremely disappointed . . . to learn that over the recommendation of her treating psychiatrist, our daughter Britney was released from the hospital that could best care for her and keep her safe," said the joint statement released on behalf of the singer's father, Jamie Spears, and her mother, Lynne Spears. - (Reuters)
Greek Orthodox leader elected
ATHENS -Greece's Orthodox Church elected a moderate and popular bishop, Metropolitan of Thebes Hieronymos, as its new head yesterday.
Archbishop Hieronymos, who was also a candidate 10 years ago against the late Archbishop Christodoulos, is regarded as a soft-spoken cleric, less fiery and less media-friendly than his predecessor. - (Reuters).