In Brief

Pope urges fight against racism

Pope Benedict XVI has urged Christians to help society combat intolerance to foreigners amid a row over criticism of the government by Roman Catholics.

An article in the country's biggest circulation Catholic weekly magazine criticised the government's crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Talking at his summer residence near Rome, the Pope spoke of worrying displays of racism in some countries.

While he did not name them, he clearly intended to include Italy. The Pope said that while racism was often tied to social and economic problems, these could never justify contempt or racial discrimination. Taking his cue from an Old Testament passage about the duty of welcoming foreigners, the Pope said peace and justice could only be created in a world where every human person was respected.

-BBC

Karadzic alleges war crime judge biased

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has applied to the U.N. war crimes tribunal to disqualify a Dutch judge from his genocide case, said court documents released Tuesday.

Karadzic accused Judge Alphons Orie of bias and of having a personal stake in his case. He said Orie would convict him to reinforce judgments in earlier cases against Bosnian Serbs and justify "draconian" sentences against them.

"There clearly cannot be any question of impartiality on his part," Karadzic said in a letter dated last Friday to the president of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, Fausto Pocar.Orie presided over Karadzic's plea hearing July 31, his first appearance in court since his capture in Belgrade after more than a decade in hiding.

-AP

Zimbabwe inflation rockets higher

The rate of inflation in Zimbabwe jumped to just over 11,250,000% in June, official figures show.

"It gained 9,035,045.5 percentage points from the May rate of 2,233,713.4%," said state media quoting the Central Statistical Office (CSO).

However, experts believe the actual rate of inflation may be much higher. Zimbabwe is in the midst of a dire economic crisis with unemployment at almost 80%, most manufacturing at a halt and basic foods in short supply.

High money supplies have also been fuelling hyperinflation. Critics have accused President Robert Mugabe's government of printing money to finance his election campaign and prop up the economy. Month-on-month inflation in the country accelerated to 839.3% from 433.4%.

-BBC

Opposition walks out of U.P. Assembly over Noida firing

The entire Opposition staged a walkout in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday following the Bahujan Samaj Party government’s refusal to accept their demands relating to the Greater Noida police firing.

The government remained non-committal on the demand to raise the quantum of compensation announced for the next of the kin of the deceased and constitute an all-party fact-finding team. Judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge was also demanded. A judicial probe by a retired High Court judge was announced by Chief Minister Mayawati last week.

Initiating the debate immediately after Supplementary Grants of Rs.5,916.17 crore was tabled by Parliamentary Affairs and Finance Minister Lalji Verma, the Leader of the Opposition Mulayam Singh condemned the alleged atrocities by the police and the firing on innocent and unarmed farmers that claimed five lives and left 52 injured.

-Hindu

Ukraine PM 'working for Russia'

Aides to Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko have accused Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of working in Russia's interests in a bid to become president. Presidential spokesman Andriy Kyslynsky said Ms Tymoshenko had been co-operating with Russia by avoiding any criticism of its actions in Georgia.

He said she was counting on Moscow's support in next year's Ukrainian presidential election.

Ms Tymoshenko, currently on holiday, has not yet commented on the claim. Rows between President Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko scuppered their previous alliance after they came to power in the Orange Revolution in December 2004.

-BBC

Perfect return flight for Proton

A Russian Proton Breeze M rocket has successfully launched one of the biggest commercial satellites ever built - the Inmarsat-4 (I4-F3).

The telecommunications spacecraft was released by the Proton at 0746 GMT, after a flight of more than nine hours.

It was the rocket's first outing since an upper-stage failure in March left a US coms platform at a useless altitude. The I4-F3, operated by the UK-based Inmarsat company, will complete the firm's satellite broadband network.

The latest spacecraft joins two others of the same design that are already in orbit. The new satellite will be positioned over the Americas at 98 degrees West to give Inmarsat global coverage. The company's network delivers high-speed (up to half a megabit) mobile internet and phone services to users on land, at sea and in the air.

-BBC