Today's other stories in brief
Bulgaria endorses Lisbon Treaty
SOFIA - Bulgaria has overwhelmingly approved the Lisbon Treaty, becoming the sixth state to pass the Bill aimed at improving the EU's efficiency, the parliament said yesterday.
The Balkan country's deputies voted 195-15 to endorse the reform treaty which replaces a draft European constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 referendums.
Deputies from Bulgaria's opposition nationalist Attack party and several independent deputies opposed the treaty.
- (Reuters)
Iraqi Mehdi army attacks patrols
BAGHDAD - Mehdi army fighters attacked police patrols in southern Baghdad overnight, police said yesterday, further fraying a seven-month ceasefire called by Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to rein in his militia.
The clashes in Baghdad's Shurta district follow outbreaks of violence in the southern Iraqi city of Kut in which Mehdi army fighters battled US and Iraqi security forces. Three people were killed in fresh fighting in Kut late on Thursday. - (Reuters)
Haniyeh seeks to expand Gaza hold
GAZA - The Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, will expand his government in an effort to strengthen his hold on the coastal territory, an official close to the Hamas government in Gaza said yesterday.
Mr Haniyeh's decision to cement Hamas's grip on Gaza opposes Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's demand that the Islamist group hand over control of the enclave as delegations from the rival factions meet in Yemen for talks. - (Reuters)
Rainstorms claim at least 16 lives
CHICAGO - Swollen rivers flooded parts of the central United States yesterday and threatened to engulf a major interstate highway in Missouri, after violent rainstorms caused at least 16 deaths, according to reports yesterday.
Further north, a storm bore down on the midwest, dropping heavy snow and delaying flights. Many rivers were swollen beyond their banks, leaving houses under water from Texas to Ohio.
In some cases, the rains came on the heels of record snowstorms earlier in the month that left soils saturated.
Reports across the region said 16 people had died, they were either swept away by rushing waters or were in traffic accidents blamed on the heavy storms. - (Reuters)
Eta detonate car bomb in Madrid
MADRID - A car bomb exploded close to a police station in the northern Spanish town of Calahorra yesterday after a warning from Basque separatist group Eta, but only one person was hurt, the town's mayor said.
Javier Pagola, mayor of Calahorra in the Rioja region, said a policeman had been slightly hurt by flying glass.
"One guardia civil has been hurt by glass which entered his home," said Mr Pagola. "There is a lot of damage." The police station and surrounding area - crowded with people attending the Holy Week religious procession - had been cleared and cordoned off before the explosion.
- (Reuters)
Man reports theft of cannabis plants
SYDNEY - An Australian man has found himself in trouble after calling police to report that his house had been broken into and some of his cannabis plants stolen.
The man (35), from the southern city of Adelaide, called police in the early hours of Tuesday after being woken by intruders who smashed a window and made off with portions of the plants.
Police could not locate the burglars but, after searching the house, found six cannabis plants in the bedrooms. The man was arrested and charged with drug offences, police said. - (Reuters)