Las Vegas  - Former American football legend O. J. Simpson went on trial Monday on charges of armed robbery but suffered an immediate setback when the judge rejected a request from his attorneys to ask potential jurors if they considered Simpson a murderer.

Simpson, 61, was sensationally acquitted in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, though a civil jury later found him liable for the deaths.

Now he is on trial for allegedly robbing two dealers in sports collectibles at gunpoint at a seedy Las Vegas hotel last September. Together with codefendant Clarence "C. J." Stewart, 54, Simpson faces a dozen charges, including kidnapping, which carries a potential life sentence.

Warsaw  - A Polish television crew was detained in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia on Monday and had their equipment confiscated, local media reported.

A reporter and cameraman from Polish Television, along with their Georgian driver, were stopped by Ossetian police before being turned over to Russian soldiers, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported. Their equipment - including their mobile phones - were also confiscated.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that if required he would intervene in Moscow and Tbilisi on the matter.

The Polish Journalists' Association also sent a letter of protest to Russia's ambassador in Poland, asking for an explanation for the detention.

Colombo  - A female journalist was shot and injured by an unknown gunman on Monday night in eastern Sri Lanka, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

Amsterdam  - The burka, a head-to-toe covering worn by some Muslim women, will be banned from Dutch schools and universities, Education Minister Ronald Plasterk said Monday.

The labour minister said in a letter to parliament that he was preparing a bill to outlaw the garb from mid-2009.

Not only pupils and teachers, but anyone entering the school or university premises will be prohibited from wearing the burka, he said.

The burka, also known as a niqab in some traditions, is a wide dress covering not only the entire body, hair and neck, but also the face, leaving only a slit for the eyes.

The minister said the dress obstructs smooth communication, which according to Plasterk is a major requirement for a proper education.

Athens  - A former Japanese diplomat to the Vatican and his Greek-born wife will appear before an investigative judge on Tuesday on charges of killing their
37-year-old daughter at their villa on the Greek island of Evia.

Greek police are investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding the woman's death and have taken her parents, former Japanese ambassador Masami Tanida,
77, and his 67-year-old wife, Maria, into custody, believing it is a homicide case.

Their lawyer, Thanassis Tartis told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, that his clients claim the woman, named Amphithea, took her own life and her parents had tried unsuccessfully to save her.

London  - The trial of eight men accused of planning to blow up a series of transatlantic flights with liquid explosives two years ago ended in London Monday with three convictions, one acquittal and four cases of the jury failing to reach a verdict.

The allegedly al-Qaeda-inspired plot uncovered by British and US intelligence in August 2006 changed air travel forever with tough new restrictions imposed worldwide on carrying liquids in hand luggage.

But the jury at Woolwich Crown Court in London, after more than 50 hours of deliberations, did not accept the contention of the prosecution that the plot was specifically linked to blowing up passenger aircraft.