A roundup of today's other world news stories in brief
Car bomb kills four Shia pilgrims
BAGHDAD – A car bomb exploded yesterday in a town northeast of the Iraqi capital while a bus full of Iranian Shia pilgrims was passing, killing five people and wounding nine, security officials said.
The blast in Muqdadiya, 80km northeast of Baghdad, was the latest in a series of attacks testing the mettle of Iraqi security forces as US troops prepare to end combat operations at the end of August before a full withdrawal next year.
Four of the dead were Iranian pilgrims, who have flocked to Iraq’s Shia religious sites since the US-led invasion removed Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Saddam banned Shia rites and fought an eight-year war with Shia-ruled Iran in the 1980s. – (Reuters)
Zsa Zsa Gabor receives last rites
LOS ANGELES – Actor Zsa Zsa Gabor has been given the last rites at a Los Angeles hospital.
A spokesman described the 93-year-old’s situation following surgery on Saturday as “very sad”.
He said she asked for a priest and he administered the sacrament yesterday.
Gabor is being fed through a tube, but doctors hoped to get her to eat without it yesterday, he said.
She had surgery for the removal of clots from her upper body. She broke her hip on July 17th, had hip replacement surgery and only returned home from hospital last Wednesday.
– (AP)
Michael Douglas has throat cancer
LOS ANGELES – Doctors have found a tumour in the throat of Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas and plan to treat the Wall Street star with radiation and chemotherapy over eight weeks.
Doctors expect Douglas (65), to make a full recovery, the actor's spokesman told Peoplemagazine yesterday.
A representative for Douglas confirmed the report to Reuters but declined comment on any further details. “I am very optimistic,” Douglas said in a statement.
The actor, who is married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, has enjoyed a long career in Hollywood spanning some five decades, and he is the son of film legend Kirk Douglas.
– (Reuters)
Israeli soldier denounced over prisoner photos
JERUSALEM – A discharged Israeli female soldier was condemned by Israeli and Palestinian authorities yesterday for posting pictures of herself on Facebook posing next to bound and blindfolded Palestinians.
Former conscript Eden Abergil is seen in two pictures from her album titled “Army – the best period of my life” next to hand-bound and blindfolded Palestinian men at an undisclosed location in the occupied West Bank.
The other 26 pictures visible from the album show Ms Abergil posing with friends and comrades from her army service days.
Ms Abergil is no longer directly answerable to the military because she has been discharged.
– (Reuters)
13 die in fireworks factory explosion
BEIJING – A massive explosion ripped through a fireworks factory in China yesterday, killing at least 13 workers.
About 50 people were in the factory in Yichun city in Heilongjiang province when the blast happened.
A total of 148 were injured by the blast, which could be felt up to two miles away.
Safety is lax at Chinese fireworks plants, and accidents are common. Dozens of people also die each year from unsafe handling of fireworks while celebrating weddings and traditional holidays.
Separately, 11 people died when a lift plunged 12 storeys in the city of Meihekou in the northeastern province of Jilin. – (PA)