Tanker blast
Moscow: Seven people were missing and six injured after an explosion in the engine room of an oil tanker at Yuryung-Khaya, in eastern Siberia’s Yakutia region, Russian news agencies reported. Nearby villages were evacuated in case of further blasts. (AFP)
Murder discount
Oslo: A Norwegian man who was jailed for 21 years for his part in the 1999 murder of his parents and sister wants a discount when he buys the home where they were killed. Per Orderud got approval to buy his parents’ farm last month, but says the home on the property was damaged by bullets in the killings. (AP)
Shuttle debris
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Lufkin, Texas: A 6ft section of Columbia, the Space Shuttle that disintegrated over Texas in February last year, killing all seven astronauts aboard, has been found by a wildlife biologist in the state’s Newton County. The wreckage was part of the crew compartment, with a hinged window. (AP)
Victim of Etna
Catania: Italian trekkers found the body of a French tourist, Nicoladze Etienn, 49, on the slopes of Mount Etna, Sicily’s erupting volcano, after a thunderstorm. He had burns to his face, apparently after being struck by lightning, but was not near the summit or in the area of recent eruptions. (AP)
Karadzic’s book
Belgrade: Radovan Karadzic has published a book despite being wanted to stand trial for the death of more than 7,000 Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995. Mr Karadzic, who is believed to be in hiding in Bosnia and Montenegro, hopes the book, Charity and Appeals, will help to correct his “false image”. (AFP)
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500 killed in Nigeria gang wars
Lagos: Up to 500 people have been killed in clashes between rival armed gangs in Port Harcourt, the Nigerian oil city, during the past month, according to Amnesty International.
Amnesty quoted the figure in a letter to Peter Odili, the Governor of the Rivers State where the two gangs have been fighting. It said that Nigerian police had grossly underestimated the number of casualties.
“Most of the victims were civilians, including an unconfirmed number of women and children, who were killed or injured as a result of being targeted or indiscriminately shot at,” the letter said. Amnesty said that armed gangs had used AK47s, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and dynamite. (AFP)
Three expelled
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Jerusalem: Three British women who planned to teach Palestinian pupils in the West Bank were expelled by Israel. Samra Ghafoor, a teacher, and Amina Sheikh, a lawyer, both 28 and from London, and Hajera Khrushei, 20, a Cambridge student, were not charged with any offence. (AFP)
Mayors’ pact
Moscow: The mayors of Moscow, Paris, Berlin and London announced the creation of an inter-city alliance to fight terrorism at a meeting in the Russian capital. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, said that they would work together to step up security in the four capitals. (AFP)
Ramone dies
Los Angeles: Johnny Ramone, the guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones, which influenced a generation of rockers, has died, aged 55. Ramone, born John Cummings, had suffered from prostate cancer for five years.
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Utzon honoured
Sydney: A reception hall in the Sydney Opera House named after its creator, the Danish architect Joern Utzon, was opened as part of a state government plan to refurbish it to his original vision. Utzon, 86, abandoned the project in 1966, amid arguments over his interior designs and cost overruns. (AP)
Giant footstep
Cairo: Mohammed Hussein Heikal is to get his first shoes at the age of 51. Mr Heikal, a 7ft 6in recluse from the Qena desert, has 18in feet (British size 38) and could not afford to have shoes made. Now the governor of Qena has taken pity on Egypt’s tallest man and ordered a pair at state expense. (AFP)