A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Israeli air strike on Gaza compound
GAZA - Israeli missiles hit a Palestinian security compound in Gaza yesterday, the first such air strike in two years, and Israeli shells killed a Palestinian in the north of the strip after rocket attacks on the Jewish state.
Hamas, sworn to destroying the Jewish state, said Israel was trying through the strikes, which wounded a policeman, to send a message in response to the Islamic militant group's victory in January elections. - (Reuters)
SA police officer kills eight
JOHANNESBURG - A rampaging South African police detective killed eight people including four colleagues and an infant before being shot dead by police yesterday.
Supt Chippa Mateane (42) shot three women and a two-year-old boy on Monday night, then opened fire at Kagiso police station in Krugersdorp, a town west of Johannesburg.
The killings, shocking even by the standards of South Africa's violent crime epidemic, prompted calls for compulsory psychological counselling for police officers. - (Guardian service)
Court rules out asylum for Iraqis
BERLIN - A German court ruled yesterday that Iraqis do not have a right to asylum or protection from deportation, despite Iraq's unstable security situation and problems with food, water and electricity.
The decision came at a high court in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which rejected petitions by several Iraqis and upheld the government position that Iraqi citizens are no longer entitled to automatic protection against deportation. - (Reuters)
Ten killed as tanker hits bus
VENEZUELA - A fuel tanker truck exploded after crashing into a packed passenger bus in central Venezuela, killing 10 people and injuring 22 others, rescue officials said yesterday.
The truck smashed into five other vehicles before bursting into flames on Monday afternoon on a road in Aragua state, a civil protection spokesman said.
Six people on the 32-passenger bus were killed instantly and the other four died later from serious burns, he said. - (Reuters)
Poland demands ex-envoy's release
WARSAW - Poland yesterday demanded Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko release Warsaw's former ambassador, imprisoned for taking part in rallies to protest at Lukashenko's re-election in March.
The ex-envoy's father is on hunger strike in protest at the imprisonment. - (Reuters)