EU announces €30m to help Italy refugees AP, Lampedusa

The head of the European Commission has announced during a visit to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa that Italy will receive an additional €30 million in EU funds to help settle refugees, after the sinking of a migrant boat killed at least 275 people

Jose Manuel Barroso also pledged to work "tirelessly” for an EU-wide asylum policy and to beef up the Frontex border patrol agency

Turkey coup sentences upheld AFP, Ankara

Turkey's appeals court yesterday upheld the convictions of scores of top retired military officers over a 2003 coup plot but overturned jail sentences handed to dozens of lower-ranking defendants.

The court in Ankara confirmed an earlier judgement that found the former commanders of the army, navy and air force guilty of plotting to oust Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government and sentenced them to 20

China court to hear Bo Xilai appeal

AFP, Beijing

A Chinese court yesterday said it would hear an appeal by

fallen Communist Party star Bo Xilai, who was convicted of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power last month and jailed for life.

Appeals in such high-profile cases are rare in China's tightly controlled courts.

Myanmar reforms 'incomplete': US AFP, Bandar Seri Begawan

US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday said that Myanmar's dramatic political reforms were still "incomplete", a day after the former military-ruled country released dozens more political prisoners.

"I think what is happening in Myanmar is very exciting, but it is incomplete, " Kerry said during a meeting with students in Brunei.

Bugti Murder Pak SC grants Musharraf bail

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan's top court yesterday granted bail to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over the death of a rebel leader, his lawyers said, bringing closer his possible release after nearly six months of house arrest.

Musharraf has now been granted bail in three major cases against him, including one relating to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

His lawyer said the ruling meant he was a "free man". But he is likely to remain under heavy guard at his villa on the edge of Islamabad, where he has been under house arrest since April, because of serious threats to his life.

Musharraf was head of state in 2006 when the main rebel leader in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, Akbar Bugti, died during an army operation.

His lawyer Ibrahim Satti told AFP a three-member Supreme Court bench had granted bail in the Bugti case in return for surety bonds worth two million rupees ($20,000).

Another counsel for Musharraf, Qamar Afzal, said bail was granted over lack of evidence. As well as the Bugti and Bhutto cases, Musharraf also faces cases over the suspension of judges during emergency rule, which he imposed in 2007.