A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Gul may try again for presidency
ANKARA -Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul has signalled he might make a second bid for Turkey's presidency, in comments sure to provoke unease among the country's powerful secular establishment.
The secularists, including army generals, blocked Mr Gul's first attempt to be elected head of state in May, forcing prime minister Tayyip Erdogan to call an early parliamentary election. His Islamist-rooted AK Party decisively won that poll on Sunday.
- (Reuters)
Russian youths 'admire Stalin'
MOSCOW -Russia's youths admire Josef Stalin and want to kick immigrants out of Russia, according to a new poll.
When asked if Stalin was a wise leader, half of the 1,802 respondents, aged from 16 to 19, said he was, according to the poll released yesterday. - (Reuters)
US criticised by committee
LONDON -A British parliamentary committee has criticised the United States for its "lack of regard for UK concerns" about the transfer to Guantánamo Bay of two British residents.
The intelligence and security committee said there was no evidence of any British agency being directly involved. But it said the security service was "indirectly and inadvertently" involved in one case of rendition of two British residents, arrested in Gambia in 2002. - (Reuters)
Indian president sworn in
NEW DELHI -India's first female president has been sworn in, after a vitriolic campaign which raised doubts about Pratibha Patil's suitability for the largely ceremonial role.
Ms Patil (72), dressed in a white and green sari draped over her head, took the oath of office inside parliament, promising to uphold the constitution and devote herself to the people of India. - (Reuters)
40 migrants rescued off Sicily
ROME -The Italian coastguard yesterday reached a boat carrying more than 40 migrants in the seas off Sicily, but lost contact with another that had also called for help and warned of corpses on board.
The coastguard began searching for the two boats yesterday after they sounded the alarm using satellite phones and said they had eight dead on board between them. - (Reuters)
Islamists released in Tunisia
TUNIS -Tunisia has freed 20 Islamist prisoners as part of an amnesty marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Tunisian republic.
Human rights activists said yesterday they included Ali Zwagi, Ahmed Labyed and Ridha Saidi, former leaders of the banned Islamist Nahda party, one of Tunisia's main opposition movements.
The three have served about 17 years of a life sentence. - (Reuters)