A round-up of some of today's world news stories in brief...
Israel to hold election on February 10th
JERUSALEM- Israeli legislators agreed yesterday to set February 10th as the date for a parliamentary election brought forward by the resignation of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.
With only two small factions opposed to the date, a Bill to dissolve parliament and hold the election on February 10th will be drafted and is certain to be passed, legislators said after consultations with Knesset speaker Dalia Itzik. On Sunday, ruling party leader Tzipi Livni dropped efforts to put together a coalition. (Reuters)
Banker guilty of ordering murder
MOSCOW - A Russian jury yesterday found a businessman guilty of ordering the murder of a senior central banker who led a clampdown on money- laundering.
The jury decided that Alexei Frenkel, the former head of a small Russian bank, was guilty of ordering the death of Alexei Kozlov, a deputy head of Russia's central bank, in September 2006. - ( Reuters)
Woman stoned to death in Somalia
KISMAYU - Somali Islamists have stoned to death a woman accused of adultery in the first such public killing by the militants in about two years, witnesses said. The woman (23) was placed in a hole up to her neck for the execution, which took place late on Monday in front of hundreds of people in a square of the southern port of Kismayu. ( Reuters)
Air raid causes power station fire
COLOMBO - An air raid blamed on rebel Tamil Tigers hit a power station in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo yesterday and caused a fire.
"Because of the bombing, there was a fire at Kelanitissa power station. We have sent fire engines. We have no details as to the extent of damage," a fire official said. - ( Reuters)