In short

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

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

Palestinian (65) killed 'by mistake'

HEBRON – Israeli soldiers killed a 65-year-old Palestinian in his bedroom yesterday during a pre-dawn raid, in what the army admitted was a mistake.

The man was shot as troops swooped on houses in the occupied West Bank to rearrest five members of the Islamist Hamas group who had been freed from Palestinian jails just the day before.

The US-backed administration of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas rejected Hamas charges of responsibility for Amr Qawasme’s death and said the blame was exclusively Israel’s. – (Reuters)

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Wikileaks founder signs book deal

EDINBURGH – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has signed a book deal to tell his “fascinating” life story.

Edinburgh-based Canongate Books said it had acquired world rights – apart from North America – to the whistleblower’s story.

Mr Assange, who is on bail facing extradition proceedings to Sweden on charges of sexual assault, leapt into the limelight with a string of headlines as a result of US cables published on his WikiLeaks website.

The book will see him discuss his own philosophies, according to Canongate.

Mr Assange said: “I hope this book will become one of the unifying documents of our generation. – (PA)