HEADLINES:
R/€ 
R/£ NEWS BRIEFS
September 21, 2006 Edition 4
Christians targeted
Kano - Muslim youths in northern Nigeria's Jigawa state yesterday attacked Christians and burnt at least four churches while protesting over a Christian woman's allegedly blasphemous remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Around 40 shops were also ransacked. Neither police nor witnesses were able to say exactly what the woman was accused of saying.
Minister of axe acquitted
Arusha - In its fifth absolute acquittal, the UN genocide court for Rwanda has cleared a former minister for primary and secondary education of all counts of involvement in the country's 1994 ethnic massacres. Andre Rwamakuba (56), dubbed the "minister of axe", was alleged to have used an axe to kill a pregnant Tutsi woman and pull away intravenous drips from Tutsi patients at a hospital.
Hoping for a glimse
Foxborough - More than 40 000 Rolling Stones fans turned out as the four-decade-old band kicked off its latest US tour last night. As the grizzled rockers, most of whom are in their sixties, approach the end of a year that has delivered some knocks for band members, fans said part of the draw of the tour is to get a look at the group while it's still around.
Mittal Steel mine horror
Almaty - At least 18 people were killed and 25 were missing when an underground explosion tore through a coal mine in Kazakhstan belonging to Mittal Steel. The Lenin mine, where the blast occurred just before 9am yesterday, is one of eight supplying coal to the company's Temirtau factory, one of the world's biggest steel plants and the Central Asian country's largest.
Vietnamese spy dies
Hanoi - Pham Xuan An, a Vietnamese spy who worked for Time magazine in Saigon during the Vietnam War, died yesterday after a long illness, a government official said. He was 78. Foreign correspondents considered him the dean of Vietnamese journalists working for Western news media, but he doubled as an undercover agent for communist North Vietnam.
Storms wreak havoc
Dhaka, Bangladesh - Violent storms have rocked the Bay of Bengal, capsizing dozens of fishing boats in rough waters and leaving at least 33 people feared dead. About 900 other people, including a naval commander, were missing after the storms hit late on Tuesday, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported, quoting coastguards, boat owners and survivors.
An expensive jibe
Istanbul - An Ankara court had fined journalist Erbil Tusalp for allegedly insulting the Turkish prime minister, a report said yesterday. Tusalp was ordered to pay 5 000 New Turkish Lira (about R25 000) for an article titled "Get well soon", in which he said Recep Tayyip Erdogan was "psychopathically aggressive" and "it should be researched whether he suffered from a severe fever at a young age".
Artic Ice shock
Paris - European scientists voiced shock yesterday as they showed pictures which showed Arctic ice cover had disappeared so much last month that a ship could sail from Europe's most northerly outpost to the North Pole itself. Perennial sea ice - thick ice that is normally present year-round and is not affected by the Arctic summer - had disappeared over an area bigger than the British Isles, they said.
Wedding atrocity
Kabul - A wedding celebration north of the Afghan capital turned into a scene of sorrow when assailants threw a grenade at the gathering, killing five women and wounding 18. The women were celebrating in a garden when an explosive device was thrown over a wall. Both the groom and bride came from poor families and the motive for the attack appeared to be a private feud.
Solar speed record
Taipei - A solar car developed by Japanese university students won the international solar car rally race in Taiwan yesterday after breaking the world solar car speed record. Sky Ace TIGA, of Ashiya University, set a world record of 165km/h on Tuesday on the second day of the three-day race. Eleven teams from universities in Taiwan, Japan, Iran, Turkey, the US and Germany took part.
Lab saboteur behind bars
Northampton, England - A cancer researcher was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday for waging a campaign of sabotage against a laboratory that conducted tests on animals. Joseph Harris (26), who has a doctorate in molecular biology, is the first person to be convicted under new legislation aimed at harassment and threats from animal rights activists.
© 1999 - 2010 Star & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.