Today's other stories in brief
Clinton and Karzai meet in show of unity
Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton yesterday brushed aside recent public arguments between Kabul and Washington over strategy for defeating the Taliban and corruption in Afghanistan.
Surrounded by senior military and civilian officials from both countries, Mrs Clinton and Mr Karzai attempted to portray the splits as mature debate between allies.
At the start of an all-day meeting between US and Afghan commanders, ministers, and officials, Mrs Clinton said: “The ability to disagree on issues of importance . . . is not an obstacle to achieving our shared objectives. – – (Guardian service)
Prophet cartoonist attacked at lecture
STOCKHOLM – Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist whose sketch of the Prophet Muhammad enraged many Muslims, was head-butted yesterday while giving a lecture about freedom of speech, he said.
Mr Vilks, who depicted the Prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog in 2007, said he was assaulted by a man sitting on the front row as he spoke at the University of Uppsala, about 70km from Stockholm.
“He head-butted me and I fell into the wall and lost my glasses,” Mr Vilks was quoted by news agency TT as saying. He added he was unharmed. – (Reuters)
Inquiry into abuse in Dutch church
ZEIST, the Netherlands – Dutch Catholic Church authorities have given the go-ahead for an independent inquiry into allegations of sex abuse by priests and have promised full co-operation.
The Dutch Catholic Bishops conference and the conference of Dutch religious people, an umbrella group for 190 religious institutes in the country, said yesterday it was important to establish the truth about decades of alleged abuse.
The church has asked an independent group to hold a preliminary inquiry because an increasing number of victims were coming forward. – (Reuters)