A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
US to reduce troop levels in South Korea
WASHINGTON - The US will lower troop levels in South Korea beyond a previously agreed reduction to 25,000, but the cut will not be "substantial," a senior defence official said yesterday.
"As the adjustments [ in capabilities] take place, there will be a reduction in the number of US forces located in the Republic of Korea beyond the level of 25,000 that we've currently agreed to," the official said. "Will it be a substantial reduction? I do not believe so." - (Reuters)
33 killed in crash in Zimbabwe
HARARE - Thirty-three people died and more than 20 others were injured yesterday when a bus crashed into a valley in northwestern Zimbabwe, state media reported.
Analysts say soaring prices are forcing Zimbabwe motorists to use worn-out tyres on their vehicles, while omitting crucial maintenance work, as the country struggles with a deep economic crisis most dramatised by the world's highest inflation rate of more than 1,180 per cent. - (Reuters)
'Islamophobia' hitting Britain
LONDON - Britain should hold a judicial inquiry into why some Muslims in the country are turning to extremism, the country's most senior Muslim police officer said yesterday. Tarique Ghaffur, assistant commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, said Britain stands at a "critical crossroads" in its relationship with the Muslim community.
A wave of "Islamophobia" across the world and new anti-terrorism laws in Britain risk alienating Muslims and criminalising ethnic minorities. - (Reuters)
Brazilian gangs on the rampage
SAO PAULO - Gang members torched buses and attacked police posts, banks and other buildings in Sao Paulo before dawn yesterday, leaving at least two dead and three hurt in the latest flare-up of a violent crime wave that has plagued Brazil's largest city for months.
Police and city officials said the attacks appeared to be the work of a powerful organised crime group known as the First Command of the Capital, which has caused mayhem in and around Sao Paulo in recent months. Sixty people were arrested after a three-day wave of attacks in July. The state's public security secretariat said police shot and killed two suspects yesterday following the attacks overnight. In all, it said 27 targets were hit in and around the city, South America's financial capital. - (Reuters)
Floods hit India and Pakistan
ISLAMABAD - Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 120 people in Pakistan's northwest frontier province, and forced hundreds of thousands out of their homes in neighbouring India, officials said yesterday.
The floods played havoc in five districts, including two which were badly hit by a devastating earthquake last year, submerging hundreds of villages and causing extensive property damage. "The situation is worse than last year, as the rains triggered more flash floods this time in our five districts," information minister Asif Iqbal Khan said. By yesterday rescuers had recovered 43 bodies in Mardan, the second biggest city in the province, after a bridge collapsed on Saturday.
In neighbouring India, authorities used helicopters to drop food and water to some of the hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes by floods in the country's south and west, as rains disrupted life in the nation's financial capital.
In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh 80 people have died after four days of torrential monsoon rains. - (Reuters)