A round-up of other world news in brief
Two suicide bombings kill 17 in Iraq
MOSUL – Two suicide bombers killed 17 people and wounded 26 in northern Iraq yesterday, police said, in the latest of a spate of attacks in the volatile region.
Two men entered a crowded cafe in Sinjar, whose inhabitants are from the minority Yazidi sect, and detonated explosive vests. – (Reuters)
UN ‘concern’ over Suu Kyi sentence
NEW YORK – The UN Security Council voiced “serious concern” yesterday about a sentence passed on Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a watered-down statement designed to win the consent of China and Russia.
The statement, read to journalists by British ambassador John Sawers, current president of the council, called for the release of all political prisoners in the Asian country. – (Reuters)
16 killed in rebel attack on mine
KINSHASA – At least 16 people were killed and dozens injured when armed militia attacked Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest tin mine, a government official and UN-sponsored radio said yesterday.
Mines, often controlled by rebel groups who use their minerals to finance armed insurgencies, are rarely targeted, but the attack did not disrupt production. – (Reuters)
Youth (16) kills his family with rifle
AJACCIO – A 16-year-old boy killed his father, mother and younger twin brothers with a hunting rifle in Corsica on Tuesday night, police said. The youth opened fire on his family at their home near Ajaccio, the capital of the French Mediterranean island. His motive is not known.
After killing his family, the teenager spent 24 hours wandering alone in the region of Porticcio, south of the island’s capital, before confessing what he had done to a friend, who alerted police. – (Reuters)
Electric guitar pioneer dies
LOS ANGELES – Legendary guitarist and inventor Les Paul, who pioneered designs of electric guitars, has died of complications from pneumonia at a New York hospital, his lawyer said yesterday. He was 94.
Attorney Michael Braunstein said Paul died at the White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York. He added that Paul had been receiving hospital treatment for about two months and had battled a number of illnesses. – (Reuters)
Salmon return to cleaner Seine
PARIS – Salmon are returning to the Seine after an absence of almost a century as water in the river that runs through Paris has become cleaner in recent years, French scientists said.
Once numerous in the river, Atlantic salmon disappeared from the Seine in the early 20th century, partly due to pollution from Paris sewers. “The improvement in water quality has meant that salmon have returned to the Seine,” Charles Perrier of the National Institute for Agronomic Research said.
The National Federation for French Fishing say about 1,000 salmon are present in the Seine. – (Reuters)