News in Brief

Egypt sets trial date for Brotherhood chief
Afp, Cairo

An Egyptian court has set December 9 for the Muslim Brotherhood chief and senior officials of the movement to face trial on new incitement charges, judicial sources said yesterday.
Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and other leaders of the Islamist grouping including Essam al-Erian and Mohammed al-Beltagui face charges of inciting violence in the Cairo neighbourhood of Bahr al-Aazam that led to deadly clashes in July.

US Navy christens new carrier
Afp, Washington

The American navy christened the first of its next generation of aircraft carriers on Saturday, a multi-billion-dollar vessel hailed as the most technologically advanced warship ever built.
The USS Gerald Ford, the 13-billion-dollar nuclear-powered carrier, is due to begin service in 2016.

Thai 'Red Shirts' rally ahead of key debate
Afp, Bangkok

Thousands of Thai pro-government "Red Shirts" massed in Bangkok yesterday in their first show of force since a wave of opposition protests against a controversial political amnesty bill.
The deeply divisive amnesty bill has inflamed festering political wounds in Thailand. Thai Senate was due to debate the bill today.

ABBA mulls possible reunion: report
Afp, Frankfurt

The legendary Swedish pop group ABBA, one of the world's best-selling pop bands, is mulling a possible reunion next year, singer Agnetha Faltskog said in a German newspaper interview yesterday.
ABBA was formed in 1972 with singer Agnetha Faltskog, guitarist and songwriter -- and later husband -- Bjorn Ulvaeus, as well as Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.