Global briefs
GERMANY: The ashes of former East German leader Erich Honecker can be buried in a cemetery at his home town of Neunkirchen, a German official said. Markus Mueller, an official of Neunkirchen city, which is 50 km from the German border with France, told the local media that a burial site would be available if the Honecker family applied. Erich Honecker led the German Democratic Republic from 1971 to 1989 and died in exile in Chile in May 1994. He was tried in the united Germany for high treason but German authorities later dropped charges against him because he was sick with cancer. Honecker's widow Margot has kept the urn with his ashes in her apartment in Santiago since his death.* * * POLAND: The Polish military angrily denied that its troops have been involved in prisoner abuse in Iraq. Witness statements leaked by the US military suggest that troops from Poland and other countries could be involved in abusing prisoners in Iraq. "I don't know if this is an attempt on the part of the US media to water down responsibility for what happened in the Abu Ghraib prison", Polish army chief of staff spokesman told Polish television. Poland commands a 6200-strong multinational force in south-central Iraq.* * * AFGHANISTAN: Medicins sans Frontiers (MSF) suspended all its operations in Afghanistan after five of its staff were killed by gunmen claiming to have acted on behalf of Taliban. MSF has been in Afghanistan since 1979 and worked throughout the Taliban period. "For the time being our activities will be suspended nationwide", its acting head of mission said at a press conference in Kabul. With elections delayed from June to September, there are fears that the Taliban will step up action to disrupt the polling. More than three million people have registered to vote in the postponed elections.* * * SERBIA: Three years after the NATO-led war in Serbia, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are still a big health concern, especially among refugees living in remote areas. Almost half those questioned by a team of US researchers and doctors from a university hospital in Belgrade had symptoms of depression and more than one in eight had symptoms of PTSD.* * * ISRAEL: Israel has developed its first surface-to-surface missile with a range of at least 300 kilometres, according to a report in Jane's Defence Weekly. The missile could reach into the territories of all of its neighbours. The missile is guided by a global positioning system and can hover over an area before confirming its target.* * * EL SALVADOR: Coca-Cola is buying sugar from a mill in El Salvador that is supplied by sugar plantations exploiting child labour. A Human Rights Watch report identified several plantations where children as young as eight work. The group focused on Coca-Cola Company, as it is one of the largest buyers of sugar in the country. The International Labour Organisation estimates that at least 5000 and as many as 30,000 children under the age of 18 work on Salvadorean sugar farms.