World Quickly

CONTROVERSIAL EDITOR SHOT DEAD

MOSCOW: A Turkish-Armenian editor, who had been convicted of insulting Turkey's identity over his comments on Armenians, was shot dead outside his newspaper office in Istanbul yesterday.

Turkish broadcaster NTV said Mr Hrant Dink, a controversial writer and journalist, was shot by an unknown assailant as he left his newspaper Agos around 1300 GMT (9pm Singapore time) in central Istanbul.

Last year, Turkey's appeals court upheld a six-month suspended jail sentence against Mr Dink for referring in an article to an Armenian nationalist idea of ethnic purity without Turkish blood.

The court said the comments went against an article of Turkey's revised penal code and which lets prosecutors pursue cases against writers and scholars for 'insulting Turkish identity'.

Mr Dink was one of dozens of writers who have been charged under laws against insulting Turkishness, particularly over issues related to an alleged genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during WWI. Turkey denies genocide was committed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WORKERS DIE IN DUBAI BLAZE

DUBAI: Four workers died in a fire which engulfed a high-rise building under construction in Dubai, newspapers reported yesterday.

Police said the blaze, which broke out on Thursday in the upper floors of the building, killed two Asian nationals and injured 57 workers on the site before it was brought under control.

But newspapers quoted hospital sources as saying four workers died in the incident.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

'NO DARLING, YOU CAN'T BE SPANISH'

MADRID: A Colombian woman called Darling has been told she cannot become a Spanish citizen because her name is unacceptable.

Years of waiting to obtain Spanish citizenship for Ms Darling Velez, 33, appeared to end with success a few months ago when her application was accepted, but she was shocked when the public registry rejected her name, El Mundo newspaper said yesterday.

Spanish law prohibits names which could expose a person to ridicule or do not clearly indicate gender. Without registering her name, Ms Velez cannot become a citizen.

REUTERS

RUSSIA CLOSER TO NUCLEAR REFORM

MOSCOW: The Russian parliament's Lower House yesterday gave final backing to legislation to restructure the nation's nuclear industry.

Lawmakers in the 450-seat State Duma voted 351-57 with three abstentions to approve a Bill that would create a fully state-owned holding company encompassing all enterprises involved in the civilian nuclear sector. The military nuclear complex would be managed separately.

The Bill must still win approval of the parliament's Upper House and be signed into law by the President.

ASSOCIATED PRESS