A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
French trains sabotaged as strike continues
FRANCE:High-speed trains were sabotaged across the French rail network yesterday in what officials called a co-ordinated campaign in support of the week-long transport strike.
The national SNCF rail company stopped short of blaming strikers for the overnight vandalism, which it said included setting fire to electric cables and damaging to signalling systems. - (AP)
Indicted Rwandans to face French trial
PARIS:Two Rwandans indicted by an international court over the country's 1994 genocide could be tried in France after the Tanzania-based court yesterday dropped demands for Paris to hand them over.
Laurent Bucyibaruta and Catholic priest Wenceslas Munyeshyaka have been arrested in France twice since July under a warrant from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. - (Reuters)
Anti-government protest in Hungary
BUDAPEST:Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied outside Hungary's parliament yesterday after 10,000 workers staged strikes to try to halt prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's economic reforms.
Led by a six-hour stoppage from the powerful railway union, strikers blocked roads, halted trains and two bus lines, closed Budapest's airport and shut some schools. - (Reuters)
Mafia linked to 1982 Calvi murder
ROME:The Mafia was probably behind the infamous 1982 murder of Roberto Calvi, who was found hanging from a London bridge and was known as "God's banker" because of his Vatican links, an Italian court said yesterday.
Calvi, the head of the collapsed Banco Ambrosiano, was found dangling from a noose with $15,000 in his pockets and weighed down with bricks under Blackfriars Bridge in central London in what prosecutors argued was a "suicide" staged by his killers. - (Reuters)
10,000 protest at smoking ban
PARIS:About 10,000 cafe owners and tobacconists marched through Paris yesterday in protest at a smoking ban they fear will ruin their businesses. They want the ban in all cafes, restaurants and nightclubs from January 1st changed to give them time to set up smoking rooms. - (AP)
43% of Catholics 'back' abortion
BRITAIN:A large minority of Catholics back a woman's right to have an abortion and are critical of their bishops for paying "too much attention" to the issue, a British survey suggested yesterday.
A poll of adults in the UK showed 43 per cent of Catholics agreed that it should be legal for a woman to have an abortion when she has an unwanted pregnancy with only 27 per cent disagreeing. - (PA)
Indian army quells violent marches
KOLKATA:The Indian army was called out to quell violent protests in the eastern city of Kolkata yesterday as new trouble broke out in a political row over the killing of villagers opposed to surrendering land for industry.
Soldiers armed with automatic rifles patrolled the usually bustling city after protesters hurled stones, shattered car windshields, burned some vehicles and blocked traffic. - (Reuters)
Hoarder killed by stack of rubbish
WALES:A hoarder who collected tonnes of rubbish at his home probably died when a stack of it collapsed upon him, an inquest heard yesterday. The body of John James Jones (62) from Aberystwyth, west Wales, was found buried beneath bags of waste on September 7th. - (PA)