A round-up of today's other world news in brief
Eight dead, 20 injured in Iraq car bomb
BAGHDAD – A car bomb in Baghdad killed eight people and wounded 20 others yesterday as violence continued to threaten Iraq’s fragile stability amid a row over last month’s election results.
The blast occurred near a liquor shop in Baghdad’s southwestern al-Shurta al- Rabaa area. Alcohol shops have been targeted by both Sunni Islamist insurgents and Shia militia in the past. – (Reuters)
Belgian parliament approves veil ban
BRUSSELS – - The Belgian lower house of parliament yesterday approved a Bill to ban wearing the full Islamic face veil in public, a move that could make Belgium the first European country to make the practice a criminal offence.
The draft law, cast as a security measure by proponents, was overwhelmingly backed by 136 lawmakers. Just two abstained. – (Reuters)
Noriega 'very weak' in Paris jail
PARIS – Panama’s former dictator Manuel Noriega, being held in a Paris prison awaiting a retrial in France on charges of money laundering, is in a “very weak” physical condition, one of his lawyers said yesterday.
Noriega (76), who was overthrown in a 1989 American invasion after the US had indicted him for drug trafficking, was extradited to France on Tuesday after serving a 17-year sentence in the US. – (Reuters)
Two police killed by suicide bomb
MAKHACHKALA – A suicide bomber set off a car- bomb blast that killed at least two police officers and injured seven others yesterday in Russia’s North Caucasus, a Dagestan province police spokesman said.
The bomber detonated the explosives after police stopped his car at a checkpoint about 100km (60 miles) north of Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, the spokesman said. – (Reuters)