Today's other stories in brief
Mugabe calls elections for March
HARARE - Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe said yesterday general elections would be held on March 29th. The opposition said the date was a blow to mediation efforts to end the country's economic and political turmoil.
In a presidential proclamation the 83-year-old leader said parliament would be dissolved the day before Zimbabweans voted in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which has threatened to boycott the polls if the expected date was not pushed back to June, said Mr Mugabe's announcement was a slap in the face as South African-mediated talks between the rivals to hammer out a new constitution had not concluded.
Mr Mugabe is running for another five-year term.
- (Reuters)
Religious split over lay Masses
PARIS - A leading Catholic religious order has said its Dutch branch risks a split within the church with its recommendation to allow lay people to celebrate Mass to overcome a growing shortage of clerics.
The proposal "risks not only worsening the polarisation within the Dutch church but also encouraging schism," said a report for the Dominicans, an order that has produced many prominent theologians since its founding in 1216. - (Reuters)
Anger in UK over Karzai's remarks
LONDON - Afghan president Hamid Karzai faced anger in Britain last night after suggesting UK troops had made the situation in lawless Helmand Province worse.
Mr Karzai is said to have blamed mistakes by Britain and the US for the return of the Taliban to the war-ravaged area where allied forces have been involved in intense fighting since 2006. - (Reuters)
Criminal inquiry into political spat
KIEV- Prosecutors in Ukraine have launched a criminal inquiry into a spat in which the interior minister struck the mayor of Kiev after the two men accused each other of illegal land deals, the prosecutors said yesterday.
The confrontation has generated a debate on public morals and sparked rival demonstrations by groups backing interior minister Yuri Lutsenko and mayor Leonid Chernovetsky.
- (Reuters)
Lithuania considers name change
VILNIUS- Lithuania is thinking about changing its name in English to something easier to pronounce, officials said yesterday. The small southern Baltic state wants to raise its profile to attract more investments and tourists. - (Reuters)