In Brief

* BLAIR TO CUT AID – British Prime Minister Tony Blair finds himself isolated before a European Union summit because he wants to cut aid to new member states, while keeping in place his country’s EU rebate, plans that have angered and bewildered other leaders.

An agreement to end the EU’s budget crisis is still possible, Germany’s foreign minister says as a crunch summit gets under way. * ACTIVISTS FORM PARTY – The Palestinians’ ruling Fatah Party has split, with young activists forming their own party for the January parliamentary election, a party leader says, a bitter blow to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah old guard but a boost for the Islamic Hamas, contesting the election for the first time.* PRESIDENT FOR LIFE – Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, once lauded as a reformist but now dogged by charges that his government framed his personal doctors to prevent him from running against him, wants to be president for life, formally files to run for another term.* SUSPECTED TERRORISTS – French counterterrorism agents arrest three suspects believed to have “indirect links” to al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a police spokeswoman says.* CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY – Survivors of a deadly crackdown on a demonstration in Uzbekistan file a lawsuit in Germany accusing the Uzbek security chief of crimes against humanity, accusing him of massacring civilians in the May protest and of torture, a rights group says.* DEADLOCKED – North Korea blames Washington for the deadlock in the standoff over the communist nation’s nuclear programme , as South Korea’s efforts to lure Pyongyang back to international arms negotiations appear to make little headway.* UN STAFF EXPELLED – The first 90 UN staff members are set to leave Eritrea after the nation expelled them last week and the UN Security Council agreed to the demand, a UN official says.* ELECTION RESULTS – The long-ruling Revolutionary Party is expected to win Tanzania’s presidential and parliamentary elections, although it likely will lose some seats because of voter anger over alleged corruption in one of the world’s poorest countries.* island receives first AIDS tests – The 5 000 inhabitants of the remote West African island of Principe were given their first opportunity to take HIV tests on yesterday.A team from the international medical group Medicos do Mundo offered tests for the virus which causes AIDS at a hospital on the tiny isle, which lies some 140 kilometres from its larger sister island of Sao Tome in the Gulf of Guinea.”This is a small and isolated island but people here should be given exactly the same chance as everyone in the bigger island of Sao Tome to receive information about HIV and get access to tests,” said Bruno Cardoso, the NGO’s co-ordinator in the archipelago.-Nampa-AP-AFP-Reuters* ACTIVISTS FORM PARTY – The Palestinians’ ruling Fatah Party has split, with young activists forming their own party for the January parliamentary election, a party leader says, a bitter blow to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah old guard but a boost for the Islamic Hamas, contesting the election for the first time. * PRESIDENT FOR LIFE – Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, once lauded as a reformist but now dogged by charges that his government framed his personal doctors to prevent him from running against him, wants to be president for life, formally files to run for another term. * SUSPECTED TERRORISTS – French counterterrorism agents arrest three suspects believed to have “indirect links” to al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a police spokeswoman says. * CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY – Survivors of a deadly crackdown on a demonstration in Uzbekistan file a lawsuit in Germany accusing the Uzbek security chief of crimes against humanity, accusing him of massacring civilians in the May protest and of torture, a rights group says. * DEADLOCKED – North Korea blames Washington for the deadlock in the standoff over the communist nation’s nuclear programme , as South Korea’s efforts to lure Pyongyang back to international arms negotiations appear to make little headway. * UN STAFF EXPELLED – The first 90 UN staff members are set to leave Eritrea after the nation expelled them last week and the UN Security Council agreed to the demand, a UN official says. * ELECTION RESULTS – The long-ruling Revolutionary Party is expected to win Tanzania’s presidential and parliamentary elections, although it likely will lose some seats because of voter anger over alleged corruption in one of the world’s poorest countries. * island receives first AIDS tests – The 5 000 inhabitants of the remote West African island of Principe were given their first opportunity to take HIV tests on yesterday.A team from the international medical group Medicos do Mundo offered tests for the virus which causes AIDS at a hospital on the tiny isle, which lies some 140 kilometres from its larger sister island of Sao Tome in the Gulf of Guinea.”This is a small and isolated island but people here should be given exactly the same chance as everyone in the bigger island of Sao Tome to receive information about HIV and get access to tests,” said Bruno Cardoso, the NGO’s co-ordinator in the archipelago.-Nampa-AP-AFP-Reuters