Today's other stories in brief
Pakistan in 'fierce clashes' with Taliban
ISLAMABAD – Pakistani soldiers were locked in heavy fighting with Taliban militants in their Swat bastion yesterday, the army said, as the government won broad support for the offensive from political parties.
The offensive, launched this month as international alarm grew over an intensifying insurgency, was making progress and every effort would be made to help the more than one million people displaced by the fighting, military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told a briefing.
“Fierce clashes are taking places in different areas of Swat,” he said.
Twenty-seven militants including three commanders had been killed in the previous 24 hours while three soldiers, including an officer, were killed and 17 wounded, he added. – (Reuters)
Insurgents seize Somali town
JOWHAR, Somalia – Islamist insurgents closed in on Somalia’s coastal capital after seizing another strategic town north of Mogadishu yesterday.
Somali president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s forces control only parts of the city and central region after two weeks of fighting.
Human rights workers in the Horn of Africa nation say the clashes have killed at least 172 civilians and wounded 528. – (Reuters)
EU communism video criticised
BRUSSELS – Poland criticised a European Union video clip commemorating the fall of communism in 1989, saying it underestimated the country’s role in the event.
Politicians said the clip, 1989-2009: 20 years of Liberty, produced by the European Commission focused too much on Germany without mentioning the achievements of Poland, the EU’s biggest ex-communist country.
Poland's ambassador to the EU, Jan Tombinski, said the clip could sour the public mood towards the EU ahead of the European Parliament election in June. – (Reuters)
Greece confirms swine flu case
ATHENS – Greece confirmed its first case of H1N1 flu yesterday, a student who returned from the US at the weekend.
Greek deputy health minister George Papageorgiou told a news conference that initial tests confirmed a 19-year-old had the virus.
The World Health Organisation said yesterday the H1N1 flu strain was spreading fast in Japan and the world might be seeing an influenza pandemic unfold.
It has confirmed the virus in 40 countries. – (Reuters)
Maoists disrupt Nepal parliament
KATHMANDU – Nepal’s Maoists disrupted parliament yesterday, preventing an alliance of 22 political parties that has a majority from forming a new government and ending a political crisis in the young Himalayan republic.
Nepal has been in political turmoil since Maoist prime minister Prachanda resigned two weeks ago.
Prachanda quit after president Ram Baran Yadav blocked his plan to fire the head of the army, saying the general had refused to accept the supremacy of the civilian government.
The moderate communist UML party said it had the support of more than 350 members in the 601-seat parliament to form a new government. – (Reuters)
Women affected more by smoking
CHICAGO – Women may be especially susceptible to the toxic effects of cigarette smoking, US researchers said yesterday.
They said women who smoke develop lung damage earlier in life than men, and it takes less cigarette exposure to cause damage in women compared with men. – (Reuters)