In Short

A round-up of other today's stories in brief..

A round-up of other today's stories in brief..

Three charged for threats to Gordon Brown

LONDON- British police charged three men with terrorism offences yesterday over threats to kill UK prime minister Gordon Brown posted on a militant Islamic website.

Lancashire police said they had charged Ishaq Kanmi (22) with soliciting murder and belonging to a banned group, al-Qaeda. Abbas Iqbal (23) and Ilyas Iqbal (21) were charged with disseminating banned publications.

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Two others remained in custody, police said.

The three men charged, from Blackburn in northern England, were arrested at Manchester airport earlier this month. - (Reuters)

Darfur rebels down spy aircraft

KHARTOUM- Darfur rebels said they shot down an unmanned spy aircraft over the wartorn region yesterday, saying the Sudanese government was using it to track their positions.

A spokesman for the Sudanese army said the aircraft made an emergency landing. "It could have been shot down," he said.

The rebel Sudan Liberation Army's Unity faction said a patrol spotted a drone in the central, mountainous Jabel Marra area and shot it down with an anti-aircraft gun. - (Reuters)

US salmonella outbreak over

WASHINGTON- An outbreak of an unusual strain of salmonella that made more than 1,400 people ill and put 286 in hospital appears to be over, US health officials said.

They said jalapeno and serrano peppers from Mexico were the main source of the outbreak, the largest in a decade, and said the outbreak showed there was more need for the monitoring of fresh fruit and vegetables. - (Reuters)

100 anti-China protesters held

KATHMANDU - Nepali police detained about 100 Tibetans who tried to storm a Chinese consular office in Kathmandu yesterday, breaking up the latest protest by the refugees demanding independence for their homeland.

Police said the 100 protesters, including two German citizens, were to be released overnight. - (Reuters)