World Highlights

Police were investigating yesterday how two people were shot dead in one of central London's most exclusive department stores, but said they were not looking for anyone else.

Police said a 30-year-old man and a woman, 22, were pronounced dead at the scene of the Harvey Nichols store in the upmarket Knightsbridge area of London on Tuesday.

A police source said it appeared the gunman killed himself after shooting the first victim on the ground floor of the shop, known as the store of choice for Britain's rich and famous.

The department store said the man was a former member of staff and the woman was an employee. Local media said she had recently ended a relationship between the two.

Algerian train derailment

At least four passengers were killed and 24 others injured yesterday when an Algerian commuter train derailed due to excessive speed, the authorities said.

Some 300 passengers were travelling on the Algiers-bound SNTF train when five of the 15 wagons left the track near Aomar, some 100 kilometres east of the capital Algiers.

"We don't know yet the reason for the derailment... but at the moment I think it's due to high speed," Transport Minister Mohamed Maghlaoui told state radio.

An inquiry has been set up to determine the cause of the accident, which comes as the government pumps fresh money into ageing state-run rail services.

Second militant gets death for Jakarta embassy blast

An Indonesian court yesterday sentenced a second Islamic militant to death for helping plot and carry out last year's suicide car bomb attack outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

The court said it found Ahmad Hasan guilty of helping build the one-tonne bomb with Malaysian fugitive Azahari bin Husin, a senior militant linked to al Qaeda and the alleged mastermind of the attack that killed 10 Indonesians.

The same court on Tuesday sentenced to death the leading defendant in custody over the attack, a militant called Rois but also known as Iwan Dharmawan.

Hasan, 34, showed no reaction when the verdict was handed down but once out of the courtroom he shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) three times as he was led away.

Russia tycoon seeks delay of fraud appeal hearing

Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky yesterday urged judges to delay an appeal against his fraud conviction that his lawyers say the Kremlin is rushing through to stop him running for parliament.

The billionaire has declared he will run for a seat in the State Duma in a December 4 by-election but if the appeal against his nine-year prison sentence is thrown out - as his supporters expect - he will be automatically disqualified.

His legal team says the appeal court, under pressure from the Kremlin, is racing to wrap up hearings and deliver their ruling before Mr Khodorkovsky's election campaign, potentially embarrassing for the authorities, gathers momentum.

"They want to stop Khodorkovsky running for the Duma, and the Kremlin has demonstrated in the past that if they want something, they don't even do it subtly," said Robert Amsterdam, one of Mr Khodorkovsky's legal team.