Today's other stories in brief
Lisbon ratified by Italian parliament
ROME - Italy has completed its ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
Yesterday's unanimous final vote in the lower house of parliament made Italy the 24th out of 27 member countries to back the document. It was approved by Italy's senate on July 23rd. - (Reuters)
Tsvangirai 'fairly satisfied'
DAKAR - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he was "fairly satisfied" with talks with President Robert Mugabe's party to end the country's political crisis, and said Monday's deadline was "not inflexible".
Mr Tsvangirai said talks would resume as planned on Sunday with Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
"I am fairly satisfied, but there are, like in any negotiations, sticking points that need to be unravelled," Mr Tsvangirai said. - (Reuters)
Six shot dead in 'execution'
MEXICO CITY - Gunmen have shot dead six people, including children, in western Mexico in an execution-style massacre of the kind often carried out by drug gangs.
All the victims, apparently from the same family, were shot in the back of the head yesterday and found shrouded in blankets in a house near the town of Zapotlán el Grande. - (Reuters)
Flooding death toll reaches 30
KIEV - Floods in western Ukraine have killed 30 people after five days of rain caused rivers to spill over into villages and farmland as parliament promised the region €770 million in relief.
Emergencies minister Volodymyr Shandra announced the death toll in a parliamentary debate. The dead include six children and two people struck by lightning. - (Reuters)
Rowling details Potter follow-up
LONDON - JK Rowling has announced her first book to hit the shelves since Harry Potter's final outing - a series of fairy tales.
The book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard,was written after Rowling completed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, her seventh book about the wizard. - (Reuters)
Bus passenger decapitated
CANADA - A bus passenger sleeping on a bus was stabbed dozens of times and decapitated by the man sitting next to him. Canadian police said the attack happened on Wednesday night as the bus was en route from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Passenger Garnet Caton said the victim was stabbed 40 or 50 times before his head was severed with a large knife. - (AP)
800 immigrants land in Italy
ROME - About 800 illegal immigrants landed in southern Italy yesterday, with emergency services warning that already crowded holding centres are near collapse in a country that has declared an immigration emergency.
Early yesterday about 400 immigrants on a 17-metre boat, which was listing dangerously, were guided by Italian coastguard officers into the port of Lampedusa, a small island south of the Italian mainland. - (Reuters)
Man arrested in passport theft
LONDON - A 48-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the theft of 3,000 blank passports and visas from a security van in Manchester.
The documents, which were being taken to RAF Northolt for delivery to embassies abroad, were snatched after the van driver stopped to go into a shop at 6.40am on Monday. - (Reuters)