Crackdown after protests in Iraq
Baghdad A surge in protests against the Iraq Government has sparked a violent crackdown. Demonstrators and journalists have been detained and beaten by security forces, prompting criticism from the US Government. (AP)
Fighting forces rebel leader out
Juba Fighting between Southern Sudan’s military and forces loyal to the rebel leader George Athor has resulted in the deaths of 51 troops and dislodged the renegade commander from his bush outpost, officials said.
Southern Sudan voted in January to secede from the north of Sudan but violence has flared across the south in the past two weeks, underlining the challenges that the region faces before it declares independence in July. (AP)
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Clashes between rival gangs kill 18
Culiacán Gun battles between rival gangs killed eighteen people in the Mexican town of Abasolo, a day after seven police officers and an inmate died when a convoy moving prisoners in the western state of Sinaloa was ambushed. (AP)
Escaped oilman helps hostages
Bogotá An oil worker who escaped Farc rebels in Colombia helped troops to locate his fellow hostages. The kidnappers then released all but one of 23 employees of a Canadian oil company who had been abducted by gunmen on Monday. (AFP)
Nuns lose £1.2m in plastic bag theft
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Madrid Spanish police are investigating the theft of ¤1.5 million (£1.2m) in cash kept in plastic bags by nuns at a convent in the northern city of Zaragoza. One of the sisters sells highly valued paintings, which could partly explain the cash, police said. (AFP)
Speaker of House calls ‘out of order’
Berlin The high-tech lavatories at the Reichstag, the German Lower House of parliament, were out of action yesterday. A loudspeaker announced: “Achtung! This is the police. Due to the power failure, toilets are not to be used.” (Reuters)