Around the world: N Korea slams US sanctions in wake of warship sinking

New US sanctions against North Korea will violate a UN statement issued after the sinking of a South Korean warship, Pyongyang has said.

It added that the US and South Korea's plans to hold joint military exercises posed a major danger to the region.

The new sanctions were announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to South Korea. Tensions between the two Koreas were raised in March, when South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk with the loss of 46 lives.

A multinational investigation team found the ship had been torpedoed by North Korea - a conclusion that Pyongyang rejects.

North Korean official Ri Tong-il, a member of Pyongyang's delegation at a regional security forum in Hanoi, said the US decision to impose new sanctions - announced yesterday - violated a statement from the UN about the sinking issued earlier this month.

The UN statement held back from directly blaming North Korea, but condemned the sinking as a threat to security.

It called for "appropriate and peaceful measures" against those responsible.

Woman, 42, hit by mad cow disease

ITALY: A 42-year-old woman in northern Italy is seriously ill in hospital after reportedly being infected with the human version of mad cow disease.

It is only the second case of the brain-wasting illness variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ever reported in Italy.

Airlines had to cancel flights in France today because of a strike by air traffic controllers.

The strike is set to last until around 5am BST tomorrow.

Whisky on ice for experts

A CRATE of Scotch whisky frozen in Antarctic ice for more than a century is being slowly thawed by New Zealand museum experts - strictly for analysis.

The crate was found under the floor of a hut built by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton during his 1908 expedition.

Chinese 'fired at protesters'

Chinese security forces fired indiscriminately on Tibetan protesters in 2008 and beat and kicked others until they lay motionless on the ground, a human rights group said today.

The report, by New York-based Human Rights Watch, cited witnesses to clashes in Tibet.

Pair lied about terror targets

A BRITISH woman and her American husband accused over a domestic terrorism plot have admitted lying about the existence of a hit list of possible targets.

Paul Rockwood, 35, and his wife Nadia, 36, of King Salmon, Alaska, were charged with lying about the list and making false statements about domestic terrorism during interviews with FBI agents in May.

The FBI said the list had about 15 targets. Its contents were not made public.

Detectives are investigating an alleged extortion bid by Mel Gibson's ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva against the actor-director.

Russian singer Grigorieva's spokesman, Stephen Jaffe, denied any wrongdoing on the part of his client.

BOYS in Tokyo take careful aim as they bowl with pins and a ball made of ice for a special bowling event in the capital.