Today's others stories in brief
Russia wants relations with UK restored
MOSCOW - Russia said yesterday it hoped to restore normal relations with Britain following tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats this week, but business leaders said commercial ties could suffer.
"Russia is interested in having relations with Britain brought back to normal," foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Berlin. "We proceed from the assumption that they should be based on respect for each other's interests and common sense. We are prepared for this," Mr Lavrov said. - (Reuters)
Poles will uphold EU agreement
BRUSSELS - Poland has signalled it will stick to the mandate agreed last month for a treaty reforming European Union institutions and there is no sign it wants to reopen key clauses, EU president Portugal said yesterday.
"The indications I have are that the Poles want to stick to the mandate that they agreed to a few weeks ago," a senior Portuguese presidency official said ahead of the opening of inter-governmental negotiations on a draft treaty on Monday.
"We have not received any indication - neither from Poland nor from any other government - that they would like to reopen the agreement reached at the European Council ," the official said. - (Reuters)
Magazine pulled over royal insult
MADRID - A Spanish satirical magazine will be removed from newspaper stands for insulting the royal family after it depicted the heir to the throne having sex on its front cover, court officials said yesterday.
Acting on a complaint from the state prosecution office, Judge Juan del Olmo told police to collect copies of El Jueves and ordered the magazine to identify the author of a cartoon showing Crown Prince Felipe having sex with his wife, Letizia.
In the cartoon, Felipe is talking about the Spanish government's decision to pay €2,500 to the parents of every child born in the country in order to increase the birth rate.
"Just imagine if you end up pregnant," Felipe says. "This will be the closest thing to work I've ever done in my life." - (Reuters)
Embezzler craved designer goods
SEOUL - South Korean police are seeking a 26-year-old woman on suspicion of embezzling about $1.4 million to fund a craving for designer shoes, bags and clothes, a spokesman said yesterday.
"We have strong reason to believe she used this money to purchase about 1,000 designer goods," the police spokesman said.
The woman, identified as "Miss A", worked for an agricultural co-operative. She is suspected of siphoning off utility and tax payments to fund purchases. - (Reuters)
Denmark secretly airlifted Iraqis
COPENHAGEN - Denmark said yesterday it secretly airlifted out of Iraq about 200 translators and other Iraqi employees of its troops in Iraq and their relatives this week and most were expected to seek asylum in the Nordic nation.
"Out of concern for the interpreters and their families' security as well as the security of the Danish base in Iraq, the Defence Ministry has chosen to inform the public after the interpreters and others had left Iraq," the ministry said.
- ( Reuters)
McCartney wife to receive €70m
LONDON - The estranged wife of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney is to receive a divorce settlement of about €70 million, it was reported yesterday. Heather Mills-McCartney's divorce deal - after four years of marriage - would easily eclipse the €48 million paid by insurance magnate John Charman to his former wife, Beverley. - (PA)