Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri used one of the most derogatory terms in the African-American lexicon in dismissing Barack Obama as a `house Negro` -- an black underling who willingly does the bidding of his white taskmasters.

Israel will stay away from an international anti-racism conference next year, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Wednesday, saying the meeting was certain to become `an anti-Israel tribunal.`

MOSCOW, Oct 20, 2007 (AFP) - A video posted on the Internet that shows Russian neo-Nazis beheading one man and shooting another was a fabrication, the official Rossiskaya Gazeta reported Saturday citing police.

Citing a senior police official in the southern Adygea republic, where a student has been charged with inciting racial hatred for spreading the video, it reported that Russian interior ministry experts had determined the video was not genuine.

NEW YORK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A US Nobel Prize-winning scientist who triggered a storm with reportedly racist comments canceled his British book tour Friday to return home, where his lab has suspended him from duty.

'The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Board of Trustees decided to suspend the administrative responsibilities of Chancellor James D. Watson, PhD, pending further deliberation by the board,' the lab said in a statement.

NEW YORK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A US Nobel Prize winning scientist has been suspended from his administratives duties as chancellor of a New York lab after reportedly saying black people were less intelligent than whites.

'The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Board of Trustees decided to suspend the administrative responsibilities of Chancellor James D. Watson, PhD, pending further deliberation by the board,' the lab said in a statement.

LONDON, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Nobel Prize-winning scientist who reportedly claimed black people are less intelligent than whites, has pulled out of a British book tour and gone home, his publicist said Friday.

James Watson, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1962 for his part in discovering the structure of DNA, told the Sunday Times newspaper that he was 'inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa' because 'all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really.'

LONDON, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Nobel Prize-winning scientist from the United States who reportedly claimed black people are less intelligent than whites said Friday he was 'mortified' at the comments, and suggested he was misquoted.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - A leading scientific organization Thursday condemned as 'racist' and 'vicious' remarks by a Nobel Prize-winning US scientist who reportedly said black people are less intelligent than whites.

The Washington-based Federation of American Scientists (FAS) said it was 'outraged' by the remarks attributed to James Watson that appeared in Britain's Sunday Times Magazine at the weekend.

'It is tragic that one of the icons of modern science has cast such dishonor on the profession,' said FAS president Henry Kelly.

JERUSALEM, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Israel summoned the Belarus ambassador on Thursday to condemn 'extreme anti-Semitic' remarks made by the country's head of state last week, the foreign ministry said.

'During a news conference broadcast live on national radio last Friday, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made some extreme anti-Semitic comments against Jews and Israel,' the ministry said.

LONDON, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - A leading British museum has cancelled a talk by a Nobel Prize-winning scientist from the United States who reportedly claimed that black people are less intelligent than whites, it said Thursday.

The Science Museum in London had been due to host a lecture on Friday by Doctor James Watson, who won the Nobel prize for medicine in 1962 for his part in discovering the structure of DNA.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The son of Punjabi immigrants could be handed the keys to the governor's mansion in Louisiana Saturday, a state which just 16 years ago gave 39 percent of its vote to a white supremacist.

A conservative Republican, Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal, 36, was the second Indian-American to be elected to the US congress in 2004 following a failed bid to be governor of Louisiana, a socially conservative state which still clings to old prejudices in some places.

ZURICH, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - An election poster for a Swiss far-right party showing a black sheep being kicked out of Switzerland by three white sheep cannot be banned as racist, a prosecutor ruled Monday.

The Swiss People's Party (SVP) poster refers to proposals to expel foreign-born criminals and their families once they have served their sentences, and has stirred up controversy ahead of federal elections on Sunday.

ROME, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - Italy reacted with outrage Friday to a German judge who gave a Sardinian rapist a lighter sentence on account of his 'ethnic and cultural' background.

'It is clearly racist' the rapist's lawyer told La Stampa newspaper whilst the regional governor of Sardinia, Renato Soru, said the judgement was made by 'idiots', according to La Repubblica.

The affair centres around a 29-year-old Sardinian living in Germany, Maurizio Pusceddu, who was convicted of raping his former girlfriend.

ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - An Antwerp court gave a right-wing extremist a life sentence on Thursday for murdering a young girl and her Malian nanny last year in a case that shocked Belgium.

With his head bowed towards the floor, 19-year-old Hans Van Themsche showed no reaction as his sentence was read out.

A jury of 12 men and women found Van Themsche guilty late on Wednesday of murdering two-year-old Luna Drowart and 24-year-old Oulematou Niangadou and making an attempt on the life of a third woman in May 2006.

ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - An Antwerp court gave a right-wing extremist a life sentence on Thursday for murdering a young girl and her Malian nanny last year in a case that shocked Belgium.

Staring at the floor, 19-year-old Hans Van Themsche showed no reaction as his sentence was read out.

A jury of 12 men and women found Van Themsche guilty late on Thursday of murdering two-year-old Luna Drowart and 24-year-old Oulematou Niangadou and making an attempt on the life of a third woman in May 2006.

BRUSSELS, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - A right-wing extremist was found guilty on Wednesday of murdering a young girl and her African nanny last year in a case that shocked Belgium, the Belga news agency reported.

Hans Van Themsche, 19, faces up to life imprisonment when his sentence is handed down on Thursday for murdering two-year-old Luna Drowart and 24-year-old Oulematou Niangadou and making an attempt on the life of a third woman.

MOSCOW, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Vandals desecrated more than 60 graves in third attack on a Jewish cemetery in eastern Siberia in recent years, a Jewish group announced Monday.

'In the night of October 7-8, an act of vandalism was committed at the Jewish cemetery of Krasnoyarsk: 64 tombs were overturned and broken,' said a statement by Timur Kireyev, of the federation of Jewish societies in Russia.

The same cemetery was targetted in 1998 and 2001, said Kireyev.

BELGRADE, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Fifty-eight people were arrested in Serbia after neo-Nazis disrupted a weekend anti-fascist rally in the ethnically mixed northern province of Vojvodina, police said Monday.

The clashes broke out when the neo-Nazis threw bottles, bricks and stones at an anti-fascist march staged by some 5,000 people including politicians and members of non-governmental organisations in the main provincial city of Novi Sad on Sunday.

BELGRADE, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Serbian police arrested 56 people after neo-Nazis disrupted a weekend anti-fascist rally in the ethnically mixed northern province of Vojvodina, reports said Monday.

The majority of those detained were from the neo-Nazi group 'Nacionalni Stroj' -- including its leader Goran 'The Fuhrer' Davidovic, the Beta news agency cited Interior Minister Dragan Jocic as saying.

MANILA, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - Makers of hit US television series 'Desperate Housewives' have apologised for a slur against Filipino medical workers that caused an uproar in the Southeast Asian country.

The apology was sent to Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN's bureau in the United States and aired in the Philippines on Thursday following protests by the Manila government.

MANILA, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - Makers of the hit US television series 'Desperate Housewives' have apologized for a slur against Filipino medical workers that caused uproar here.

The apology was sent to Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN's bureau in the United States and aired here Thursday by its cable news channel, ANC, following protests by the Manila government.

'The producers of the show and ABC studios offer our sincere apology for any offence caused by the brief reference in the season premier,' ANC quoted the statement as saying.

MANILA, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - The Philippine government is to seek an apology from the producers of the hit US television series 'Desperate Housewives' for a racial slur against Filipino medics, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said on its web site Wednesday.

The officials cited a recent episode where actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asked whether the person attending to her during a medical consultation 'can I check those diplomas because I want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines.'

MARINETTE, Wisconsin, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - The trial of a white man charged with shooting and stabbing to death a Hmong immigrant while hunting squirrels began in this northern town on Tuesday.

The all-white jury of eight men and five women heard testimony in the case against James Nichols, who is accused of killing Cha Vang in a public hunting grounds on January 5.

The case has heightened tensions between white hunters and the ethnic Hmong, most of whom began emigrating to the United States from Laos and Thailand after the Vietnam war.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - A former Los Angeles firefighter who said his co-workers were racist and even once fed him dog food was awarded 1.43 million dollars as part of a discrimination settlement, officials said Tuesday.

The Los Angeles City Council also voted to grant Tennie Pierce, a 19-year fire department veteran, 60,000 dollars in back pay, making him eligible for pension benefits.

ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - A Belgian teenager, on trial for murdering a toddler and her African nanny in a race-hate crime, on Monday apologised and told the court he loathed his actions.

On the first day of his double murder trial, Hans Van Themsche, 19, who admits the crimes, said 'I want to say how much I loathe what I have done.'

'I want to apologise to the victims, to their friends and also to foreigners,' he continued with head bowed.

GENEVA, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Racism in France is 'alive, pernicious and most of its victims are French citizens from visible minorities, not immigrants,' the UN's independent expert on minority issues said Monday.

'Because of the colour of their skin, their religion, their surname or their address, these young people in France see no chance of social mobility' said Gay J. McDougall, after a ten day visit to the country.

ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - A right-wing extremist went on trial in Antwerp on Monday, under a new law against hate crimes, for the murder of a young girl and her African nanny which sent shockwaves across Belgium last year.

In a hesitant voice and with head lowered, Hans Van Themsche, 19, replied to the routine court questions on his name, age, profession and other details.

He is being tried under a new law against hate crimes -- the first time it has been used since it came on the books in 2003 -- according to a spokesman for the prosecutor.

ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - A 19-year-old far-right extremist went on trial in Antwerp on Monday for the racially driven murder of a young girl and her African nanny last year which sent shockwaves across Belgium.

In a hesitant voice and with head lowered, Hans Van Themsche replied to the routine court questions on his name, age, profession and other details.

He is being tried under a new law against hate crimes -- the first time it has been used since it came on the books in 2003 -- according to a spokesman for the prosecutor.

BRUSSELS, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - A 19-year-old far-right extremist goes on trial Monday in Antwerp for the racially driven murder in May last year of a young girl and her African nanny which sent shockwaves across Belgium.

Hans Van Themsche is to be tried under a new law against hate crimes -- the first time it has been used since it came on the books in 2003 -- according to a spokesman for the prosecutor.

Two months after the killing, some 20,000 people participated in a march against racism in Antwerp, Belgium's northern second city.

CHICAGO, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - A US judge released Thursday one of the six black teenagers whose arrest in Louisiana brought 20,000 people to a small town to protest what they see as racial discrimination in the US judicial system.

Mychal Bell, 17, had been jailed since December when he and five other black students who became known as the 'Jena Six' beat up a white student at school following months of racial tension in the town of Jena.

JENA, Louisiana, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - In a scene reminiscent of the US civil rights movement of the 1950s, thousands marched through this small Louisiana town Thursday protesting what they say is widespread inequality and racism in the US criminal justice system.

'It's amazing,' civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton told CNN as he marched with the crowd. 'You see the beginning of a movement that will deal with the criminal justice system in this country.'

BELGRADE, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The World Jewish Congress said Thursday it had lodged a protest with Serbian leaders about a decision to allow neo-Nazis to stage a rally in the northern city of Novi Sad next month.

'We were dismayed to learn that a rally planned by the 'Nacionalni Stroj' organisation ... has been given official permission to proceed,' WJC president Ronald Lauder said in a letter to top Serbian leaders, seen by AFP.

DUBLIN, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Substantial increases in racist and pornographic websites were reported on Wednesday by an international watchdog in its first detailed analysis of illegal activity on the Internet.

INHOPE, the International Association of Internet Hotlines, said monthly trends of processed reports over a 28-month period to December 2006 showed racism and xenophobia grew by 33 percent, adult pornography by 24 percent and child pornography by 15 percent.

It said a 'staggering 9,600' confirmed reports of child pornography were processed per month.

ATHENS, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - Led by a firebrand Euro-deputy given to anti-Semitic and xenophobic outbursts, the small nationalist LAOS party competing in Sunday's Greek general elections could be all that stands between the ruling conservatives of PM Costas Karamanlis and outright victory.

GENEVA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations independent expert on racism on Friday called on Switzerland to ban an election poster by a leading right-wing party, saying it 'provokes racial and religious hatred.'

The Swiss People's Party (SVP) has sparked a nationwide controversy with a poster showing a black sheep being kicked out of the country by three grinning white sheep under the slogan 'For More Security' -- an allusion to the party's proposal to expel the families of foreign-born juvenile criminals.

COLMAR, France, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - A former security guard and neo-Nazi was sentenced to 30 months in jail on Wednesday for the desecration of more than 100 graves in a Jewish cemetery in eastern France.

Emmanuel Rist, 37, described as the 'mastermind' of the April 2004 attack at the Herrlisheim cemetery, had expressed regret for his actions during the three-day trial.