A roundup of today's other world news in brief:
Ten held after police swoop in England
LONDON– British counter-terrorist police arrested 10 young men across the northwest of England last night in an operation hastily brought forward following an embarrassing security leak by a senior Scotland Yard commander.
The men, detained at John Moores University in Liverpool, an internet cafe and a house in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, as well as at addresses in Lancashire, are suspected of involvement in an al-Qaeda plot aimed at attacking the UK.
At least one is believed to be a student, the others were born in Pakistan.
The arrests were triggered after assistant commissioner Bob Quick, head of Scotland Yard’s specialist operations wing, was photographed yesterday morning clutching sensitive documents as he arrived in Downing Street. Clearly visible on top of a large bundle of papers under his arm was a white document marked “secret” that carried an outline for briefing on a current counter-terrorism operation. He was on his way to attend a cabinet security committee.
Realising the existence of the photos of the document – which included the names of several senior officers, sensitive locations and details about the nature of the overseas threat – a “D notice” was imposed by the government to restrict the media from revealing the contents.
– (Guardian service)
Crew retakes hijacked US ship
WASHINGTON– The crew of a hijacked US-flagged container ship carrying food aid off the Somali coast appears to have retaken control of the vessel, the Maersk Alabama, Pentagon officials said.
“It is our understanding that the crew is back in control of the ship,” army Lieut Col Elizabeth Hibner, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said.
– (Reuters)
Baghdad bomb kills seven
BAGHDAD– A roadside bomb in the Shia Kadhimiya district in northwest Baghdad killed seven people and wounded 23 yesterday, police said, a day after another bomb in the area killed nine.
Kadhimiya is home to one of Shia Islam’s holiest shrines, and the blast bore the hallmarks of Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda, which considers Iraq’s majority Shia to be heretics, and frequently attacks the sect’s mosques and religious festivals.
– (Reuters)
Torture claims against Uganda
KAMPALA– A Ugandan anti-terrorism unit has detained 106 people illegally over the last two years, torturing many in custody for links to a rebel group and al-Qaeda, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
Detainees described how officers of the Joint Anti-terrorism Task Force beat prisoners with whips, canes, chairs and guns, and peppered suspects’ eyes and noses with red chillies, the group said.
– (Reuters)
Fischer to be new Czech PM
PRAGUE- Czech president Václav Klaus will appoint non-partisan Jan Fischer prime minister today, ending a political crisis that toppled the minority centre-right cabinet and undermined the country's EU presidency.
Mr Fischer is expected to pick his ministers in the next few days, take over from Mirek Topolanek on May 9th and lead the country to an early election planned for October.
– (Reuters)
Sierra Leone rebels sentenced
The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone sentenced three leaders of the Revolutionary United Front rebel group yesterday to jail terms of between 25 and 52 years for offences during the country’s 1991-2002 civil war.
– (Reuters)