A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Iran facing sanctions for nuclear work
TEHRAN - The US and Britain say Iran could soon face sanctions because it is showing no sign of halting sensitive nuclear work, while the EU says the latest talks have been helpful but have brought no breakthrough.
A senior Iranian atomic official yesterday said that suspending uranium enrichment, which the West says Iran wants to use to build atomic bombs, would not solve the nuclear standoff.
Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, suggested instead France could invest in Iran's nuclear industry, enabling it to supervise Tehran's work. - (Reuters)
50 bodies found at Brazil crash site
RIO DE JANEIRO - Searchers have found about 50 bodies scattered around the Amazon site of Brazil's worst aircraft crash and were yesterday keeping wild animals away from the corpses.
Two US pilots were being questioned in an investigation to find out how their smaller jet collided with a passenger aircraft. The executive jet landed safely, but all 155 people on a Boeing 737-800 died in last Friday's crash. - (Reuters)
Five wounded in Israeli air strike
GAZA - An Israeli air strike in northern Gaza yesterday wounded five Palestinian militants, Palestinian medics and witnesses said. An Israeli army spokesman said the military had targeted a car carrying Islamic militants involved in recent rocket attacks against the Jewish state.
Israel has often targeted Palestinian militants in Gaza and has stepped up an offensive in the territory in recent days in a bid to stop rocket attacks against it and to pressure armed groups to free a soldier they abducted in June. - (Reuters)
Saddam trial verdict postponed
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi court trying Saddam Hussein has announced the postponement of the verdict in his trial to give the judges more time to review evidence, amid widespread worries over the decision's impact at a time of sharp Shia-Sunni divisions in Iraq. The court had been expected to announce its verdict on October 16th. - (AP)
Smoking ban on way in France
PARIS - The stereotypical image of French men smoking in cafés could be a thing of the past after a parliamentary committee yesterday recommended banning smoking in public places from September 1st, 2007.
The parliamentary committee approved a report recommending the ban and the government is expected to decide what it will do later this month.
Polls regularly show that a majority of French people support a ban. - (Reuters)