‘Monarch faces exile or death’
The Maoist rebel leader of Nepal warned the kingdom’s autocratic monarch that he faces either exile or execution.
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Maoist revolt, Prachanda — a nom-de-guerre — said that he believed Nepal would be a republic within the next few years. “For the King, today’s Nepal has no future,” he told the BBC. “The King has taken steps that do not give any room for compromise.”
Nazi ‘Butcher of Genoa’ dies, 97
Hamburg: Friedrich Engel, a wartime Nazi SS officer called “The Butcher of Genoa” has died aged 97. He was convicted by a German court in 2002 of shooting 59 Italian prisoners in a mountain pass near Genoa in 1944. An appeals court in 2004 said it believed Engel was responsible for the massacre but quashed his murder conviction. Engel received a seven-year suspended jail term. (AP)
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$27 million snow
New York: Road, rail and air systems staggered back to life across the northeastern US after a blizzard left a record snowfall of more than 2ft (60cm) on this city, leaving a $27 million clean-up bill. (AFP)
Cartoon message
Cairo: About 20,000 people converged on a south Egypt village to be blessed by a calf born, they believed, as God’s reply to the publication of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons. Its skin folds were said to have formed, “There is no God but Allah”. (AFP)
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Ministers resign
Nairobi: Two more Kenyan Cabinet ministers implicated in corruption scandals have resigned. Kiraitu Murungi, the Energy Minister, and George Saitoti, the Education Minister, have stepped down. David Mwiraria, the Finance Minister, left earlier. (AFP)
Sweeping powers
Ramallah: The outgoing Palestinian parliament gave Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, sweeping new powers days before Hamas, the Islamic militants, take control of the legislature. It has vowed to overturn the new powers. (AP)