In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

Mobs kill 11 in religious riots in Nigeria

ENUGU - Muslim and Christian mobs killed 11 people in three Nigerian cities yesterday, extending a week of tit-for-tat religious riots which have claimed at least 157 lives and injured more than 900 people.

In the town of Kontagora, machete-wielding Muslim mobs killed nine people and set fire to four Christian churches, a Nigerian Red Cross official said in Lagos.

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In Enugu, Christian youths attacked Muslims, beating one taxi-driver to death and burning a mosque. - (Reuters)

Cash find in hunt for £50m robbers

LONDON - Detectives investigating the multi- million-pound Securitas depot raid have recovered "a quantity of cash" from a white van linked to the robbery. Kent Police said it was "too early" to say how much money had been recovered. The van was found at the Ashford International Hotel. - (PA)

Nigerian pollution costs Shell $1.5bn

PORT HARCOURT - A court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell to pay $1.5 billion in damages for polluting the Niger delta, a fresh blow to the company, which was already reeling from a kidnap crisis and a wave of sabotage.

A court in Port Harcourt, the heart of Nigeria's oil industry, ruled that Shell must compensate communities in Bayelsa for degrading their creeks and spoiling crops and fishing. - (Guardian service)

Tough talk from EU over Mladic

BRUSSELS - The European Union will warn Serbia on Monday that talks on closer ties will be seriously affected if war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic is not arrested, EU diplomats said. - (Reuters)

Arrests in child porn operation

WARSAW - Police have arrested dozens of people across Europe in a Spanish- initiated sting operation against suspected users of child pornography, Polish private television station TVN 24 reported.

Polish police arrested 12 people in several cities, of whom five remain in custody. A total of 24 people have been arrested in Spain. - (Reuters)

Bono and Geldof on list for prize

OSLO - Rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof are among 191 nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize - the second-longest list in the prize's 105-year history. - (Reuters)

Bad news for heavy smokers

FLORIDA - People who smoked heavily before giving up carry a long-term risk of a stroke, a conference of the American Stroke Association was told in Kissimmee yesterday.

"Smokers should quit as soon as possible and new smokers should be aware that there will be a lifelong risk," Dr Sachin Agarwal told the meeting. "Cessation can reduce risk, but it cannot erase it." - (Reuters)