Port plan rejected
Strasbourg: The European Parliament has rejected plans to liberalise port services across the EU, which had caused strikes by dockers. The Bill had proposed opening up cargo handling to competition in EU ports, many of which receive state aid. (AP)
Biased judge
Madrid: The Supreme Court has overturned a conviction against the leader of Batasuna, the banned political wing of Eta, and ordered a retrial on charges of advocating terrorism. It found that the judge in Arnaldo Otegi’s trial had not been impartial. (AFP)
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War crimes hunt
The Hague: Carla Del Ponte, the UN prosecutor, said that the former Bosnian Serb army leader Ratko Mladic was in Serbia, not Bosnia, where an operation to catch him took place on Wednesday. He has been in hiding since his 1995 indictment for genocide. (AFP)
New face at risk
Tucson: The world’s first face transplant recipient has begun smoking again. Doctors at a conference in Arizona were told that the decision could interfere with healing and lead to tissue rejection. The Frenchwoman, 38, received a new nose, chin and lips. (AP)
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Hope of deal
Cotabato: Muslim separatist guerillas have said that they hope to reach a peace deal with the Government this year to end their decades-long fight for self-rule in Mindanao in the southern Philippines. A new round of talks is expected to begin later this month. (AP)
Sign of the times
Prague: The Czech border town of As plans to erect two road signs featuring red lips on a white background, to indicate to drivers where prostitution is permitted. The aim is to concentrate the world’s oldest profession in an out-of-the-way location. (AFP)
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An octopus angered by the invasion of its territory by a mini-submarine at 180ft tried to destroy it. The creature grabbed the £75,000 craft, made in Fareham, Hampshire, as it tried to retrieve a cable on the seabed near Vancouver Island, Canada. It was reversed out of danger, tearing off two of the creature’s tentacles.
Euro-MPs have approved stricter cleanliness standards for Europe’s beaches. From 2015, the updated Bathing Water Directive will rank coastal water quality in three simple-to-understand categories — excellent, good and sufficient, in the European Commission’s annual bathing water quality league table.
Monitors pull out after blast
Colombo: The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission for the first time suspended its truce-monitoring work as Sri Lanka deployed further troops in the strategic northeast port district of Trincomalee, amid a surge of violence in which 136 people have died. The moves follow a mine attack by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels against a navy bus, which wounded 12 sailors, and led to a gunfight in which two men died. The organisation said that it planned to resume its monitoring activities as soon as the situation in the area had calmed. (AFP)
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Abbas seeks talks
Ramallah: Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, said he was ready for talks with Ehud Olmert after Israel’s acting premier expressed hope of renewed dialogue after elections on both sides. “I am ready to meet him as soon as possible,” he said.(AFP)
Actress has twins
New York: Actress Holly Hunter, 47, has given birth to twins, according to People magazine. The children are Hunter’s first. The actress, who won an Oscar for The Piano in 1993, lives with her partner, the British actor Gordon MacDonald. (AP)
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Riyadh: Saudi officials made an exception for female Swedish football fans who live in the kingdom: they were allowed to attend a friendly match between Saudi Arabia and Sweden last night, although they were seated in a segregated section. (AP)