Today's other stories in brief
14 policemen killed by Iraqi insurgents
BAGHDAD - Heavily armed insurgents fought US and Iraqi troops in the restive northern city of Mosul yesterday when at least four policemen and four militants were killed.
A suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into a crowd of policemen watching a football match in Hadhar, 90km from Mosul, killing 10 people, including seven civilians. Twelve people were wounded.
In Baghdad, tens of thousands of supporters of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr rallied against Israel's offensive in Lebanon. - (Reuters)
Castro 'will recover soon'
HAVANA - Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering from surgery and will return to office soon, the health minister said yesterday as uncertainty grew over the future of the island he has ruled for nearly half a century.
"We know Commandante Fidel will recover soon and will be back with us soon," José Ramon Balaguer said during a visit to Guatemala. - (Reuters)
US serial killer suspects arrested
PHOENIX - Arizona police have arrested two suspected serial killers blamed for a string of fatal shootings that have terrified Phoenix area residents, officials said yesterday.
Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman were arrested on Thursday following a tip- off, Phoenix police chief Jack Harris said.
Investigators say the men shot and killed six people in a crime spree that began in May last year. - (Reuters)
Women judges only on rape cases
NEW DELHI - India has proposed that only women judges try rape cases to help sexual assault victims get justice faster and make trials sensitive to their trauma, a law ministry spokesman said yesterday. - (Reuters)