A round-up of other world news in brief
Taliban militants killed by drone
PESHAWAR – A US drone killed at least 45 Pakistani Taliban militants yesterday when it struck after a funeral of an insurgent commander killed earlier in the day, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
US ally Pakistan officially objects to the strikes by pilotless US aircraft though the attack came as the Pakistani army prepares for an offensive against Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
The military went on the offensive against Taliban fighters allied with Mehsud in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, in May and are in the final phase of that operation.
The next target is Mehsud.
"Three missiles were fired by drones as people were dispersing after offering funeral prayers for Niaz Wali," said one intelligence official, referring to a Taliban commander who was one of six militants killed in an earlier drone attack. – (Reuters)
Libel damages
LONDON – David Beckham won substantial libel damages at the High Court yesterday over a newspaper claim that he “made a play” for Hungarian model Mariann Fogarasy.
The footballer was awarded the undisclosed settlement against Express Group Newspapers over an article which appeared in the Daily Starin April.
Beckham’s solicitor, Gerrard Tyrrell, said the newspaper accepted that Beckham did not behave in the manner described and unequivocally retracted the allegations. – (Reuters)
BNP may face race case over membership rules
LONDON – The BNP was last night facing the threat of a legal injunction which could lead to fines or even imprisonment over a potential breach of race discrimination law relating to its membership policies.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission gave the far-right party until July 20th to amend its constitution to make sure it did not discriminate against members on grounds of race. The commission has received around 50 complaints from members of the public.
Officials said they believed the BNP’s constitution and membership criteria may discriminate on the grounds of race and colour, contrary to the Race Relations Act; and that it appeared to restrict membership to those they regarded as particular “ethnic groups” and those whose colour was white. – (Reuters)
Swine flu 'may have mutated'
BERLIN – Germany’s federal agency for infectious diseases said yesterday there were signs the H1N1 swine flu virus had started to mutate and warned it could spread in the coming months in a more aggressive form.
Experts were concerned about how the flu was developing in Australia and South America, said Jörg Hacker, head of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
“It’s possible the virus has mutated. In autumn the mutated form could spread to the northern hemisphere and back to Germany,” Mr Hacker told a news conference in Berlin.
The World Health Organisation raised swine flu to pandemic status earlier this month. According to its latest figures, more than 230 people have been killed by the flu worldwide from 52,000 confirmed cases, mostly in the United States and Mexico.
– (Reuters)