In Short

Other world stories in brief

Other world stories in brief

Danish police arrest eight young Muslims

COPENHAGEN- Danish police arrested eight young Muslims in pre-dawn raids yesterday on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack and having links with al-Qaeda.

Jakob Scharf, director of the Danish police's Security Intelligence Service, did not say what the alleged target was or in which country. - (Reuters)

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Recount in Jamaican election

KINGSTON- Election workers across Jamaica are recounting votes after the opposition Jamaica Labour Party apparently ended the ruling party's 18-year reign in a cliffhanger vote, winning 31 of 60 seats in parliament.

Prime minister Portia Simpson Miller refused to concede defeat yesterday, alleging the hurricane- delayed vote was marred by irregularities, including illegal campaigning and "buying votes." - (Reuters)

UN warns on floods in Ethiopia

NAIROBI- Widespread flooding across Ethiopia is affecting more than 100,000 people, with the number of those driven from their homes topping 36,000 and rising, according to the United Nations.

Authorities fear further flooding is imminent and the outbreak of water-borne disease likely.

Elisabeth Byrs, UN Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokeswoman, said in a statement yesterday: "Particularly in the western part of the country, the risk of further flooding remains high." - (Reuters)

London Tube strike causes chaos

LONDON- Millions of commuters in London endured travel chaos yesterday as a 72-hour strike by Tube maintenance workers closed most of the network.

Transport for London said the disruption was "severe and unacceptable", with trains suspended on all but three of the 12 lines.

Three million passengers use the Tube each day. - (Reuters)

Not the holiday they had in mind

TOULOUSE- Three Norwegian tourists who planned a holiday on Rhodes landed in the southern French town of Rodez on Monday after mistyping their destination on an internet booking form, officials said.

The three appear to have been surprised when their Ryanair flight landed in Rodez, which boasts a medieval town centre with a 13th century cathedral but none of the Greek island's beach resorts. - (Reuters)

New prosecutor in Politkovskaya case

MOSCOW- Russia says it has put a new prosecutor in charge of investigating the murder last October of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, in what her colleagues say showed political interference in the case.

Prosecutors said last week they had solved the case and arrested 11 people.

Politkovskaya's son and her newspaper colleagues welcomed the arrests, though they feared political interference might damage the chances of a conviction. - (Reuters)

Lebanon says over 200 Islamists killed

BEIRUT- Lebanon has said its army has killed at least 222 Islamist militants from an al-Qaeda-linked group in a 15-week battle at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

The army finally took control of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Sunday after more than three months of fierce battles against the entrenched Fatah al-Islam militants. - (Reuters)

Goats sacrificed to appease sky god

KATHMANDU- Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft. - (Reuters)