A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
McCann suspect sketch released
LONDON -The parents of Madeleine McCann released an artist's impressions yesterday of the man they believe abducted their daughter.
It is understood the images - which depict a man of southern European or Mediterranean appearance walking with a child in his arms - were drawn by an FBI-trained forensic artist from the eyewitness account of Jane Tanner, one of the group of friends who dined with Gerry and Kate McCann on the evening the little girl disappeared.
She said she spotted the man striding from the area of the McCanns' apartment but had not realised the relevance of what she saw at the time. - (PA)
21 die in Pakistan suicide attack
MINGORA -A suspected suicide bomber killed 21 Pakistanis in an attack on an army convoy yesterday in the northwest, where a Taliban-style movement has taken root, officials said.
The bombing in the Swat valley set fire to a truck laden with ammunition a day after the military sent around 2,000 troops to the district in response to militant activity. - (Reuters)
Britain's chief auditor resigns
LONDON -Britain's chief auditor, the man charged with stopping government waste, announced he was stepping down yesterday after criticism of his own lavish spending on foreign travel and top-notch restaurants.
Sir John Bourn (73) said he would retire as comptroller and auditor general next January to avoid a conflict of interest. - (Reuters)
Church to beatify civil war dead
MADRID -The Catholic Church is preparing to beatify 498 of its members killed during the Spanish Civil War, putting them on the path to possible sainthood but reviving memories of a conflict that still divides Spain.
Most of those to be honoured at Sunday's ceremony in Rome, the biggest mass beatification ever, were killed by militias at the outbreak of the 1936-39 war. - (Reuters)
Parrot saves family from fire
INDIANA -A parrot saved his owner's family by imitating a smoke alarm after their house caught fire.
Shannon Conwell (33) from Muncie, Indiana, said he and his nine-year-old son fell asleep on the couch while watching a film. They woke about 3am to find their home on fire after hearing the parrot, Peanut, imitating an alarm. - (Reuters)