INDIA: The Indian army shot down a Pakistani spy plane yesterday in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, an Indian army spokesman said.
Brig Sruti Kant said the unmanned Pakistani spy plane was shot down in the southern Kashmiri district of Poonch, inside the Indian-administered part of the disputed region. - (AFP)
164 are killed in storm in DRC
DRC: A violent storm killed 164 people and flattened thousands of homes in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the central African country's Health Minister said yesterday.
Mr Mashako Mamba said high winds and rain wiped out more than seven villages last Sunday in Bandundu province, 300 km up the Congo river from the capital, Kinshasa. - (Reuters)
Up to 5 missing in Swiss avalanche
SWITZERLAND: Up to five people could be missing after an avalanche swept down a ski piste in the south-western Swiss ski area of Champex yesterday, local police said.
Rescue crews were searching the area in the canton of Valais for possible victims. No more information was immediately available. - (Reuters)
30 hurt in Polish 100-vehicle pile-up
POLAND: Some 30 people were injured in a pile-up of more than 100 vehicles yesterday due to fog and ice on Poland's main east-west trunk road, police said.
No one was killed in the smash, near the western city of Poznan, on the main highway linking Berlin and Moscow. - (Reuters)
Device debris found after Lagos bomb
NIGERIA: Nigerian investigators probing the scene of a city-centre explosion which killed 33 people have found the remains of an explosive device, the head of the Lagos bomb squad said yesterday.
"Debris of explosive devices were found today. Some of them are live explosives," a police spokesman said. - (AFP)
Agent of Serbian secret service killed
SERBIA: An ethnic Albanian man working for the Serbian secret service was killed overnight on Tuesday in this southern Serbian town, officials said.
Mr Selver Fazliu (41) was shot dead by two masked men while shopping in Bujanovac, the main town in a region populated mostly by ethnic Albanians. - (AFP)
Italian doctor ends hunger strike
ITALY: Italian embryologist Dr Severino Antinori yesterday ended a 15-day hunger strike he had undertaken to protest what he claimed was persecution by the Italian government.
Dr Antinori, linked to pioneering work to clone humans, stopped his protest after a meeting with a close aide to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He said he had been assured of the government's commitment to preserve "the freedom of science and research". - (AFP)
Model Schiffer 'delighted' at birth
BRITAIN: Supermodel Claudia Schiffer last night spoke of her delight at giving birth to a boy as she left hospital with her newborn son.
Ms Schiffer and film producer husband Mr Matthew Vaughn posed for pictures outside the exclusive Portland Hospital, in central London. She wore a black overcoat, while her son, Caspar, was wrapped in a white blanket. - (PA)
Britain to help US on missile defence
BRITAIN: Britain agreed yesterday to a US request to help it build a missile defence shield, saying Washington could use a key radar base in northern England.
The US asked Britain in December to approve the upgrading of early warning radar systems at the Fylingdales base to allow its missile defence programme to go ahead.