Brussels: The European Parliament is planning to impose stringent constraints on photographers and camera crews who work in its buildings in reaction to a series of stories that caught MEPs abusing the allowances system. Journalists who flout the proposed rules could be banned from the buildings for up to two years and have their film and tapes confiscated.

Cleaner beaches

Barcelona: Authorities have vowed to clean up the city’s beaches after a study found that ten million cigarette butts were discarded in the sand last season. The study by the city’s Autonomous University found that waste collected in 2004 had increased by 50 per cent on the previous year. (AFP)

Villagers buried

Ankara: Sixteen people were buried and seven others injured when a landslide hit a village in Sivas province, northeast Turkey. Dozens of rescuers and earth-moving machines were sent to the area but small landslides continued, preventing the use of the machines. (AFP)

Code breaker

Vatican City: Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a former Vatican official regarded as potential papal material, wants a boycott of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown’s novel. The cardinal says that the book espouses heresy and distorts Christianity’s origins. (AP)

Dolphin protest

London: Greenpeace activists dumped the bodies of two dolphins on the steps of the French Embassy in protest at French fishing practices. The group says French fisherman kill up to 2,000 dolphins every year in the Channel by pair-trawling — dragging nets strung between two boats. (AP)

Afghan poll postponed

Kabul: Hamid Karzai said that Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections will be held in September, confirming that logistical troubles have postponed a vote intended to complete the country’s transition to democracy.

President Karzai announced the delay during the first visit to Afghanistan by Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State. He insisted that security was improving, despite a bomb attack in the the south which killed five civilians, in Kandahar. (AP)

Prison uprising

São Paulo: About 250 inmates took over a Brazilian jail in an uprising that left one guard dead. Five guards were taken hostage at the crowded Pinheiros detention centre, which holds inmates awaiting trial. The disturbance began when gunmen fired shots from a car in an apparent attempt to help inmates to escape. (AP)

Mugabe angered

Harare: President Robert Mugabe disputed an electoral court ruling allowing a man in jail to stand for a House of Assembly seat. Roy Bennett, of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change, was jailed last year after a scuffle with two Cabinet ministers. (AP)

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