A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Erdogan threatens to quit politics
ANKARA -Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that he would pull out of politics if his ruling AK Party failed to form a single-party government after Sunday's national elections.
Opinion polls suggest that the AK will win enough seats to form a government alone, though some analysts do not rule out a possible coalition government. - (Reuters)
Death sentence for labour scandal
BEIJING -China sentenced a man to death and jailed another 28 people for up to life yesterday for their roles in a massive slavery and child labour scandal involving scorching brickworks.
Owners, managers and enforcers at the prison-like kilns were convicted of charges including forced labour, illegal detention and causing injury, an official said. - (Reuters)
Call for new organ donor system
LONDON -Everyone should be treated as a potential organ donor unless they explicitly ask to opt out of the system, Britain's chief medical officer said yesterday.
Sir Liam Donaldson said reversing the current system would help tackle a chronic organ shortage that leads to the death of hundreds of patients on waiting lists each year. - (Reuters)
President's rape deal criticised
JERUSALEM -An Israeli High Court justice criticised state prosecutors yesterday over a plea deal that dropped a rape charge against the former president in exchange for his admission to lesser charges of sexual assault.
"Your tactical switch is incomprehensible, there is no logical explanation," Israeli media quoted Justice Ayala Procaccia as saying in a hearing on an appeal by women's advocacy groups against the deal last month with then-president Moshe Katsav. - (Reuters)
Ship in treasure inquiry cleared
MIAMI -An American- owned ship that was boarded and forced into a Spanish port last week by authorities who suspected it snatched a treasure worth millions from a sunken Spanish galleon has been cleared to leave Spain, its owners said yesterday.
In a statement from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, Odyssey Marine Exploration said the ship, The Ocean Alert, had been cleared for departure on Saturday after an inspection in the Spanish port of Algeciras. - (Reuters)
Shia bloc back in parliament
BAGHDAD -The political bloc of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said yesterday it had resumed participation in Iraq's parliament, suspended last month in protest over an attack on a revered Shia mosque. - (Reuters)
Sting ordered to pay compensation
SOUTHAMPTON -Rock star Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, were yesterday ordered to pay their former chef, Jane Martin, £24,944 (€37,042) in compensation after she won a claim for sexual discrimination against them. Ms Martin won her case against the couple at an employment tribunal after she claimed she was sacked by Ms Styler from their estate in Wiltshire because she became pregnant. - (PA)