Today's other stories in brief
Polish leader released from hospital
WARSAW - Polish President Lech Kaczynski went home from a military hospital yesterday after a brief stay because of high fever and a serious stomach infection.
Mr Kaczynski should be back at work very soon, a spokesman said.
Mr Kaczynski left hospital in a government motorcade, looking pale and with his hair dishevelled. He had entered hours earlier.
Polish media have speculated about his health since he took office in 2005, with medical issues forcing him to cancel some events, but his office has repeatedly denied he had any major health problems. - ( Reuters)
Cholera toll of 119 dead may double
INDIA - A cholera outbreak has killed at least 119 people in eastern India since August, health officials said yesterday, but an aid agency said the death toll was more than double that figure.
More than 5,000 people infected with the bacterial disease in Orissa state had been treated, officials said.
Nearly all the sick are poor, tribal people - among the most neglected groups in India - who caught the disease from eating bad meat or drinking polluted water.
"This is an outbreak and not an epidemic," said Usha Patnaik, the director of health services in Bhubaneswar, the state capital. - (Reuters)
Chávez to bring music to slums
CARACAS - President Hugo Chávez has thrown his weight behind a scheme which brings classical music into Venezuela's slums, following international acclaim for the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.
The Venezuelan leader announced the creation of "Mision Musica", a government-funded effort to give tuition and instruments to one million impoverished children.
He made the announcement on his Sunday television show, Alo Presidente, after reading out rapturous British reviews of the youth orchestra's performances last month at London's Royal Albert Hall. The announcement will tighten links between Mr Chávez's oil-funded radical agenda and the pioneering music scheme behind the youth orchestra's success.
- (Reuters)
Bulgaria pays price for medics
SOFIA- Bulgaria donated $56.6 million in Soviet-era debt owned by Libya as its contribution to a deal that led to the release of six medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV.
The European Union newcomer signed yesterday an agreement to donate the debt, accumulated for arms and technical deliveries, to a fund set up to provide medical aid and help the families of more than 400 Libyan HIV/AIDS victims.
"The agreement once again proves that Bulgaria is a reliable partner which delivers on its promises," said deputy Foreign Minister Feim Chaushev, upon signing the deal.
Sofia wrote off the debt six weeks after five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - convicted to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV in the 1990s - were freed. - (Reuters)
Big turnout for Bergman tribute
STOCKHOLM - Film stars, top politicians and members of Sweden's royal family were among those who celebrated the life and work of directing legend Ingmar Bergman yesterday in a ceremony at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre.
Bergman died in his sleep on July 30th aged 89. Considered by some to be the greatest film-maker ever, he produced 54 movies, 126 theatre productions and 39 radio plays during a career spanning 60 years.
The ceremony attracted a crowd of nearly 800, including prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, culture minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, and Sweden's Queen Silvia. - (Reuters)