Draft plan on low-grade enriched uranium for Iran

A DRAFT agreement has been drawn up after talks between Iran, Russia, the United States and France on the supply of enriched uranium to Tehran and has been sent to the capitals for approval by tomorrow , a spokesperson for the UN atomic watchdog said yester day.

The talks had been on a proposal for France and Russia to enrich below-weapons grade uranium for Iran.

But Tehran made it clear that it did not want France to be part of any deal. Western powers want greater control of Iran’s uranium, which they fear is being used to build a nuclear bomb.

Western powers suspect Iran has embarked on research to build a nuclear bomb. Iran has denied the claims . — Sapa-AFP

Italian PM upsets 100000

SOME 100000 women joined a protest against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, accusing him of “offending” women, the daily La Repubblica reported yester day.

The women signed a petition launched by the left-leaning paper – a relentless chronicler of sex scandals that have been dogging Berlusconi for months – after he said on a television broadcast that opposition deputy Rosy Bindy was “prettier than she is intelligent”.

The remark, made in a telephone call to the show where Bindy, 58, was a guest, was perceived as an insult aimed at contrasting her with a bevy of right-wing ministers and deputies who entered politics after careers as television showgirls. — Sapa-AFP

French store hostages freed

SIX supermarket employees were taken hostage by armed robbers in a store near Paris yester day before being released unharmed and their two captors detained, police said.

Some 200 police deployed around the LIDL discount store in an industrial zone in Sevran, north of Paris, after it was attacked just before 8am by thieves who took five women and a man hostage.

One of the attackers, a 25-year-old man, was armed with a automatic pistol and a canister of tear gas, police said. — Sapa-AFP

Day in the life of ex-financier

A LAWSUIT says fallen financier Bernard Madoff sleeps on the lower bunk of a cell he shares with a drug offender, eats pizza cooked by a child molester, and spends time with mob boss Carmine Persico and convicted spy Jonathan Pollard.

The snapshot of Madoff’s prison life is in papers filed on Tuesday in Manhattan by a lawyer who represents about a dozen victims of Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme. — Sapa-AP

Olympic flame lit for 2010

IN THE wildfire-ravaged birthplace of the ancient Olympics, Greek officials held a final rehearsal yesterday for the kindling of the flame that will burn at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Standing in front of the 2600-year-old Temple of Hera, an actress dressed as an ancient priestess used a concave mirror to focus the sun’s rays on a silver torch. I t blossomed into flame.

That flame will serve as a backup if clouds hide the sun at to day’s official lighting ceremony . — Sapa-AP

Passports for Kuwaiti women

KUWAIT’S highest court granted women the right to obtain a passport without their husband’s approval, the case’s lawyer said yesterday, in the latest stride for women’s rights in the small oil-rich emirate.

Unlike Saudi Arabia, women in Kuwait can vote, serve in parliament and drive – and now they can obtain their own passports.

In many countries in the region, women cannot travel or obtain a passport without the consent of their male guardian . — Sapa-AP

R20 vouchers for dog poo

A CENTRAL Taiwan city, Taichung, yester day began rewarding people who collect dog waste from pavements and parks.

Anyone who turns in 1kg of dog faeces to the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau could receive a voucher worth 100 Taiwan dollars (about R20) on a trial basis.

The vouchers can be redeemed in department stores . — Sapa-DPA

Weight cut for 450kg man

A BRITON who could possibly be the world’s fattest man is reportedly due to go under the knife in an attempt to cut his weight.

The Sun tabloid says that 48-year-old Paul Mason’s weight is nearly 450kg and claims he is the world’s heaviest man.

However, Guinness World Records said it could not immediately confirm Mason’s weight . — Sapa-AP

DNA traps thirsty burglar

A THIRSTY Taiwanese burglar fell victim to his habit of capping successful break-ins with a drink, as police traced him via DNA left on glasses and cans at the crime scenes, an official said yesterday.

The man, identified only by his surname Chen, committed a number of burglaries in residential areas around Taipei from 2006 to 2008, a court spokesperson said. — Sapa-AFP