In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Baghdad ban on vehicles during festival

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government announced a two-day vehicle ban in parts of Baghdad yesterday, fearing an attack on a major Shia religious festival amid unrelenting sectarian bloodshed in the capital that has killed thousands.

Nearly 1,000 Shia pilgrims were killed in a stampede during last year's ceremony, when a crowd heading towards the shrine of a revered imam in Kadhimiya in northern Baghdad was panicked by rumours of a suicide bomber. - (Reuters)

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Nigerian troops open fire in slums

PORT HARCOURT - Nigerian troops raided a riverside slum in the southern oil capital of Port Harcourt yesterday, moving from house to house and shooting sporadically, forcing residents to flee, local radio reported.

The raid follows a government order for troops to use "force for force" against militants who have kidnapped more than a dozen foreign oil workers in a string of incidents in Africa's top oil producer this month. - (Reuters)

Pinochet has his immunity stripped

SANTIAGO - Chile's Supreme Court stripped former dictator Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution yesterday to face charges in a $27 million (€21 million) tax fraud case, court sources said.

Pinochet (90) has avoided being processed in a handful of human rights cases because of his health problems, which include mild dementia caused by frequent mini-strokes.

The ruling opens Pinochet to investigation and prosecution for embezzling millions of dollars in public funds, said to be in secret bank accounts. - (Reuters)

Bush critical of wiretap ruling

CAMP DAVID - President George W Bush said yesterday he thinks US courts will uphold his belief that a National Security Agency eavesdropping programme does not violate the civil rights of Americans.

At a news conference, Mr Bush said he strongly disagreed with a ruling on Thursday by US district judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit that wiretaps under the so-called "Terrorist Surveillance Programme" violated freedom of speech, protections against unreasonable searches and a constitutional check on the power of the presidency. - (Reuters)

Flanders' head riles francophones

BRUSSELS - Belgian francophones were up in arms yesterday after the president of the Dutch-speaking Flanders region said they "apparently do not have the intellect" to learn Dutch.

In an interview in Thursday's French daily La Liberation, Flanders' president Yves Leterme also said the king, the football team and "certain beers" were all the country's French and Dutch speakers had in common. - (Reuters)

Militants arrested for consulate blast

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani authorities have arrested six militants behind a suicide car-bomb attack outside a US consulate that killed four people, including a US diplomat, officials said yesterday.

The March 2nd blast near the gates of the US consulate in the city of Karachi killed US diplomat David Foy, the bomber and three other people on the eve of a visit to Pakistan by US president George W Bush. - (Reuters)

Speeding boats caught on Riviera

NICE - French police used radar to trap speeding boat-owners on the Riviera for the first time this week and caught several in the first hour - then word spread and the sailors slowed down.

Police recorded 74 cases of speeding and handed out 19 fines and 28 warnings to boats breaking the limit of five knots. - (Reuters)