WORLD BRIEFS

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who plans to resign under the taint of corruption probes, wants Palestinian peace negotiators to sign a document outlining any agreements reached with Israel before he leaves office, Olmert aides said Sunday. Palestinians, while acknowledging some progress in delineating the final borders of their future state, rejected the notion of a partial accord. The Israeli prime minister sat down Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the latest of the meetings they have held every few weeks.

LONDON - Military chiefs are to meet with an animal rights group on Tuesday to discuss alternatives to the traditional bearskin hats famously worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) are to hald talks with Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials to put forward what they say are ethical alternatives to the 18-inch (46-centimetre) tall fur hats worn by army guards. Peta has previously discussed fake fur alternatives with the MoD but military bosses were unimpressed by the prototypes.

KHARTOUM - Five Sudanese men accused of murdering a U.S. aid worker are religious extremists who plotted to attack foreigners at New Year's Eve gatherings, Sudanese prosecutors told a court on Sunday. The five defendants chanted "God is great" as they walked into the East Khartoum court and were greeted by a crowd of supporters who shouted religious slogans and "Down, down, USA." All five men wore beards and traditional white gowns, and a Reuters reporter at the court saw two of them spit in the faces of two Western women journalists before walking into the building with iron shackles on their ankles.

SRINAGAR, India - Hindus in Indian Kashmir on Sunday suspended two-month protests after the government agreed to temporarily provide land to a Hindu trust managing a key pilgrimage in the Muslim-majority region. Muslims in the Kashmir valley, where the land is located, held huge anti-India demonstrations after state authorities made public their plans in June to donate an area to the trust permanently. The protesters argued the land transfer was being done to change the demographics in the valley but India says it has never encouraged Hindus to settle in the region.