A round-up of today's other world stories
Suicide bomber kills 20 in Pakistan
A suicide bomber has killed at least 20 people in an attack on a tribal council meeting in Pakistan's northwest Orakzai region.
Seventy people were wounded in yesterday's attack, which came a day after a suicide bombing at the police headquarters in the Pakistani capital in which eight policemen were injured. - (Reuters)
Somali refugees feared drowned
About 100 people are feared drowned off the coast of Yemen after smugglers allegedly forced migrants fleeing violence in Somalia to jump overboard near the end of a three-day trip, the United Nations said.
Some 47 survivors told representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that passengers were forced off the boat 5km from shore after sailing from the Somali port of Marera, near Bossaso in the north of the country, and crossing the Gulf of Aden, the office said in a statement. - (Bloomberg)
Connecticut to allow gay unions
The Connecticut supreme court has overturned a ban on same- sex marriage in a victory for gay-rights advocates that will allow couples to marry in the New England state.
The court found that the state's law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.
Connecticut is the third US state to allow gay marriage, following Massachusetts and California. - (Reuters)
40 killed in push against Tigers
At least 40 people have been killed for the second straight day in the Sri Lankan military's push into rebel Tamil Tiger territory, a day after a failed suicide attack targeting a minister. Air force jets also kept up relentless strikes yesterday on Tamil Tiger targets. - (Reuters)
11 die in drugs shooting in bar
Hooded gunmen believed engaged in a drugs feud burst into a bar in northern Mexico and shot dead 11 people in the third drugs- related massacre in the state since July, officials said.
The gunmen opened fire with assault rifles at the Rio Rosas bar in Chihuahua city near Texas on Thursday night after identifying themselves as federal police, the Chihuahua attorney general's office said. - (Reuters)
Cabinet shake-up in Peru likely
Peruvian president Alan Garcia is considering a cabinet shake-up after all of his ministers offered to resign in a widening corruption scandal over oil concessions.
The president has faced opposition calls to shuffle his cabinet since tapes emerged linking members of his APRA party to a plan to steer petroleum contracts to favoured bidders in exchange for bribes. - (Reuters)