Today's others stories in brief
UK police get more time to quiz Darwin
LONDON - Detectives have been given more time to question "back from the dead" canoeist John Darwin, police said yesterday.
Magistrates granted Cleveland police an extra 36 hours to question Darwin, (57) on suspicion of fraud.
Officers also plan to question his wife Anne (55) if she returns to Britain.
Mystery surrounds her whereabouts.
She was believed to have been in Panama in Central America, but police said the latest unconfirmed reports indicated she was in North America. - (Reuters)
Scientology ruled unconstitutional
BERLIN - German federal and state interior ministers declared the Church of Scientology unconstitutional yesterday, opening the way for a possible ban on the organisation.
Federal interior minister Wolfgang Schäuble and 16 state interior chiefs agreed "that we do not consider Scientology an organisation that is compatible with the constitution", said Ehrhart Körting, Berlin's interior minister . - (Reuters)
Promise to reform 'Turkishness' law
ANKARA - Turkey will reform a law the European Union says unfairly restricts freedom of speech when the EU allows its stalled membership talks to resume, Turkish officials said yesterday.
Turkey has been under heavy EU pressure to amend or scrap article 301 of the penal code, which makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness", but Ankara is frustrated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to block the negotiation process.
- (Reuters)
Electronic music composer dies
BERLIN - German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, one of the world's most influential 20th century composers and renowned for his pioneering work in electronic music, has died aged 79.
Best known for experiments with electronic music in the 1960s and 70s, Stockhausen, who composed more than 300 individual works, also had a significant impact on avant-garde and classical music. - (Reuters)