Other world news in brief
DAMASCUS:US military helicopters attacked a farm in eastern Syria near the Iraq border yesterday, killing eight civilians, including five members of the same family, Syria has said. The Syrian foreign ministry summoned the US charge d'affaires in Damascus to protest over the raid. Syria's state news agency SANA said four helicopters had taken part in the raid on a building under construction in the Bou Kamal border area, in eastern Syria. Bou Kamal is the main crossing point into Iraq.
Lt Col Chris Hughes, spokesman for US forces in Iraq, said the US division that operates on the Iraqi side of the border was not involved in the incident. - (Reuters)
Stranded hill runners located
LONDON:Rescuers yesterday located the last of the several hundred endurance runners who had become stranded by terrible weather during a competition in the Lake District. Hundreds of the 2,500-plus participants in a gruelling mountain marathon near Keswick had become trapped on the hills by torrential downpours on Saturday. - (Reuters)
Farc politician hostage rescued
BOGOTA: Colombian soldiers have rescued a politician kidnapped more than eight years ago by Farc guerrillas in another blow to the rebel group, authorities said yesterday. The rescue of Oscar Lizcano comes after politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and a group of other hostages were freed in July. - (Reuters)
Flu vaccine boost aids elderly
WASHINGTON:Giving four times the usual dose of flu vaccine helps protect elderly people better than the usual dose, researchers reported yesterday. With US studies showing the standard flu vaccine does not significantly reduce deaths among elderly people, scientists at the University of Rochester tried giving a much bigger dose to see if that might help and have had promising results. - (Reuters)
Retaliation threat by Abkhazia
MOSCOW:Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region yesterday accused EU monitors of ignoring "armed provocations" by Georgia along its boundaries and said its retaliation would be emphatic. The accusation was made one day after a Georgian district governor and a villager were killed by what Georgian police said were mortars from the Abkhaz side. - (Reuters)
Bees 'can count - up to four'
SYDNEY:Researchers in the University of Queensland have discovered that honey bees can count to four."The more we look at these creatures that have a brain the size of a sesame seed, the more astonished we are," said one researcher. - (Reuters)