A roundup of today's other world stories in brief:
BBC reporter kidnapped in Gaza Strip
GAZA- A correspondent for the BBC has been kidnapped in the Gaza Strip by unknown assailants, according to Palestinian security officials.
Police have identified the journalist as Alan Johnston, who has been the BBC's correspondent in Gaza for three years. -
(Reuters)
Top US army doctor resigns
WASHINGTON- The US army's top medical officer has resigned, officials say, making him the third senior figure to lose his job over substandard care of troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A senior US defence official said surgeon general Lt Gen Kevin Kiley had been asked to request retirement by acting army secretary Pete Geren. Lt Gen Kiley made the request on Sunday and was immediately replaced by his deputy, Maj Gen Gale Pollock, the army said.
- (Reuters)
Taliban bomb kills 10 Afghan police
HERAT- A roadside bomb detonated by Taliban fighters has killed 10 Afghan policemen in the western province of Farah, a security official has said.
The remotely detonated bomb exploded yesterday as a police vehicle travelled through the province's Bakwa district.
- (Reuters)
Canadian arrested as terror suspect
MADRID- Spanish police have arrested a Canadian man suspected of helping finance Islamist military operations, the interior ministry has said.
Brian David Anderson (61) is wanted by US authorities for fraud amounting to more than $20 million and is believed to have helped to finance a training camp in Afghanistan, the ministry said in a statement.
- (Reuters)
Iranian's family disputes claims
TEHRAN- Claims by western intelligence to have scored a major coup by securing the defection of a senior Iranian general were contradicted yesterday by the man's relatives, who claimed he had been kidnapped by US or Israeli agents.
Relatives of Ali Reza Asgari, an Iranian former deputy defence minister who disappeared during a trip to Turkey, said reports that he had fled to the west were "lies".
- (Guardian service)
Bush snr spends night in hospital
LOS ANGELES- Former President George H.W. Bush, father of the current president, has been treated overnight at a California hospital after becoming dizzy and dehydrated in the desert heat, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
"President Bush was playing golf in the 94 degree heat and became dizzy and dehydrated," Elizabeth Wholihan, a spokeswoman for Eisenhower Medical Centre in Rancho Mirage, said in a statement yesterday.
- (Reuters)
Israel envoy to El Salvador recalled
JERUSALEM- Israel has recalled its ambassador in El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked with sex toys lying nearby in the yard of his official residence, Israeli media reports say.
A foreign ministry spokeswoman yesterday confirmed that Tsuriel Raphael, was recalled but offered no details. The ministry saw his behaviour as "unbecoming of a diplomat", the spokeswoman said.
- (Reuters)
2,000 acres burnt in California
LOS ANGELES- A wildfire that blackened 2,000 acres and forced the evacuation of more than 1,200 southern California residents was arson, authorities have said.
"This is an arson fire," said Capt Steve Miller of the Orange County Fire Authority yesterday. He said the blaze began when a stolen vehicle was set on fire, igniting nearby brush.
- (Reuters)