A round-up of other world news in brief
Boyle in clinic for 'rest and recovery'
LONDON – Susan Boyle, runner-up on the TV show Britain's Got Talent, spent yesterday being assessed at a private medical clinic in north London after she was admitted for exhaustion in a move that has prompted questions about the way reality TV stars are supported.
Boyle (48), who had been the clear favourite to win the talent show, was admitted to the Priory in Southgate on Sunday evening after her behaviour had become erratic following her defeat by street dance act Diversity.
Even the prime minister Gordon Brown was prompted to express his concern for her health.
A spokeswoman for Britain's Got Talentsaid the church volunteer was "exhausted and emotionally drained and would remain at the clinic to "take a few days out for rest and recovery". – (Guardian service)
Five killed in Iranian bombing
TEHRAN – Five people died and dozens were wounded during unrest in Iran’s southeastern city of Zahedan following a bombing of a Shia mosque that killed 25 people there last week, Iranian television reported yesterday.
Clashes between backers and opponents of a Sunni cleric in the city erupted less than two weeks before the officially Shia Muslim country holds an election in which conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces a challenge from reformers. –(Reuters)
38 die in fighting in Somalia
MOGADISHU – A roadside bomb and more fighting between Islamist insurgents and government forces have killed at least 38 more people in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, a local rights group and residents said yesterday.
In the worst fighting this year in the war-scarred coastal city, al Shabaab rebels have been battling Somali police and soldiers in mortar and machine-gun exchanges that have sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing Mogadishu. – (Reuters)
Indian bus crash leaves 29 dead
BHOPAL – At least 29 people were killed and a dozen injured yesterday when a bus plunged off a bridge into a dry river bed, local police said.
The bus was travelling between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh when it veered off the bridge in Morena. – (Reuters)
Swine flu in all 50 US states
WASHINGTON – Cases of the new swine flu H1N1 virus have been found in all 50 US states and tests have confirmed the virus in more than 10,000 people across the nation, US officials said yesterday.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said the confirmed tests represent about one in 20 of the actual number of infections.This would bring the total number of US cases to about 200,000. – (Reuters)