A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Malawi charity workers suing Madonna
JOHANNESBURG – Eight charity workers in Malawi are suing Madonna after the collapse of her $15m academy for girls cost them their jobs.
The employees' lawyer said they are taking the US singer to court for unfair dismissal and non-payment of benefits.
The board of Raising Malawi was ousted after failing to start construction of an elite girls’ school amid allegations of financial mismanagement. – (Guardian service)
Yemen bullet factory blasts kill at least 110 during break-in
ADEN – A series of blasts at a bullet factory in south Yemen killed at least 110 people yesterday when residents broke in to steal ammunition a day after clashes between militants and the army in the town, doctors said.
Witnesses said the blasts, possibly triggered by a cigarette, caused a massive fire in the factory in the town of Jaar in Abyan province, where al-Qaeda militants and mainly leftist southern separatists are active.
“This accident is a true catastrophe, the first of its kind in Abyan,” said a doctor at the state-run hospital. “There are so many burned bodies. I can’t even describe the situation.” – (Reuters)
Lourdes tells of invalid's 'healing'
PARIS – The Catholic shrine at Lourdes has announced the “remarkable healing” of a French invalid, avoiding the traditional term “miracle” because its doctors increasingly shy away from calling an illness incurable.
The case of Serge Francois (56), whose left leg was mostly paralysed for years, was the first healing announced since the church eased some rules in 2006 for declaring that a person was healed thanks to visiting the site.
The Catholic Church teaches that God sometimes performs miracles, including cures that doctors cannot explain. Sceptics reject this as unscientific. – (Reuters)
Russia census shows 3.4m drop
MOSCOW – Russia’s population fell by nearly 3.4m over the past decade, census results showed yesterday, underscoring a demographic crisis that could slow growth and hurt a Kremlin bid to compete with China and India.
The Kremlin has tried to boost population growth, fearing that fewer births in an ageing population will sap the economy, especially with a pension age of 55. A nationwide census in October 2010 showed Russia’s population fell to 142.9m from 145.2m in 2002, when the last census was taken, and from 146.3m in 2001, according to Russia’s Federal Statistics Service. – (Reuters)