World briefs

UK retailer John Lewis said yesterday Christmas shoppers had started to hit its stores in force with sales up 10 per cent on last week and up the same amount compared to a year ago.

Head of retail operations Patrick Lewis said party frocks, sexy underwear, perfumes and "must-have" gadgets like iPods and remote-control cars were the best sellers, while recent icy weather had boosted sales of hats, gloves and scarves.

He said at this time of year the firm expected to see sales grow over five per cent from week to week as Christmas approaches.

Chief sacked for illegal parking

Rome's mayor sacked the city's traffic and parking chief yesterday after he parked his car in a no parking zone.

Giovanni Catanzaro parked his car in a tow zone near the Spanish Steps in central Rome before heading off to a restaurant on Friday night, Roman daily Il Messaggero reported yesterday, complete with pictures from the scene. His car displayed a permit for disabled drivers that was no longer valid and initially was issued to a senior citizen, the paper said, noting that officials almost never tow away a disabled person's vehicle no matter where it is parked.

A spokesman for Rome mayor Walter Veltroni said Mr Catanzaro had been removed from his post as head of the city's municipal police force that oversees traffic and parking violations.

Souvenir for smashing

In a symbol of fragile hopes for this week's Middle East peace conference at Annapolis, one Palestinian shop-keeper is selling souvenir mugs for the event - complete with ins-tructions to smash them if talks break down.

Under a dove and olive branch motif, the mugs carry the message in English: "Please keep this souvenir, but in case of the conference's failure; you are only asked to break the mug".

Tareq Abu Dayya, who runs a gift shop in the Gaza Strip, said he meant the mugs to symbolise hope the conference could lead to a Palestinian state but also his low expectations for success.

Commonwealth condemns EU

The Commonwealth condemned the EU yesterday for scrapping a preferential trade deal with sugar-producing African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

The EU voted in September to axe the so-called Sugar Protocol, under which 18 ACP countries receive privileged duty-free access at subsidised prices to the EU market.

"The Commonwealth... considered the EC's unilateral denunciation of the Sugar Protocol as very regrettable," the club of mostly former British colonies said in a statement at the end of a three-day summit.

Europe initially slashed its sugar subsidies by 36 per cent, in response to a World Trade Organisation ruling that they were illegal, but then scrapped them completely.

Bulgaria ends conscription

The last 2,400 conscript soldiers were discharged yesterday from the Bulgarian army which will turn fully professional next month.

Special ceremonies were held in Sofia and four other cities to mark the end of obligatory conscription - a right of passage for young men over 18 who were required to serve in the military for six months.

The defence ministry has said the transformation would cost around $30.28 million and will also help cut the army's size to up to 35,000 from around 45,000.

Bulgaria is the latest former Soviet satellite to abandon conscription, a legacy of the communist era which many young men tried to avoid by extending their studies or feigning sickness.

Rare China tiger born in S. Africa

A male South China tiger cub was born in the Free State province of South Africa on Friday, the first time the animal has been born outside China, the Save China's Tigers organisation said yesterday.

The cub was born on a wildlife conservation reserve. It was being hand-reared and would be taught to hunt for itself.

"It is truly a historic event, because it is the first time that a South China Tiger has been born outside China. Only around 60 South China Tigers exist in captivity and less than 30 survive in the wild," Li Quan, founder of the organisation, said in a statement.

The South China tiger is one of the world's smallest and the only one native tiger to central and southern China which roamed the country in thousands till the 1950s but its habitat has now been squeezed by the country's rapid economic growth.