A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Suicide attack kills 12 during pilgrimage
BAGHDAD - A woman suicide bomber blew up an explosive vest amid a group of Shia pilgrims near the town of Iskandariya south of Baghdad yesterday, killing 12 people and wounding 27, police said.
Thousands of pilgrims have begun travelling on foot toward the holy city of Kerbala south of Baghdad to commemorate the birth of the 12th Imam. - (Reuters)
Libya, US agree to payout deal
TRIPOLI - Libya and the United States signed a comprehensive deal yesterday to compensate all US and Libyan victims of bombings or their relatives, Libyan officials said.
The US victims include those who died in the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco that killed three people and wounded 229. - (Reuters)
Tsvangirai's passport taken
HARARE - Zimbabwean authorities briefly confiscated opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's passport yesterday, threatening to prevent him attending a regional summit in neighbouring South Africa, said a Tsvangirai spokesman.
Mr Tsvangirai said he had been invited to attend a weekend summit, to be hosted by South African president Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating power-sharing talks between Zimbabwes opposition and President Robert Mugabe. - (Reuters)
Glitter to be sent back to Britain
The 1970s pop star and convicted child abuser Gary Glitter is to be deported to Britain next week as soon as he is released from jail in Vietnam after serving almost three years.
The 64-year-old singer, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted of obscene acts with two Vietnamese girls aged 10 and 11 in Vang Tau in March 2006.
When he lands in Britain Glitter will be interviewed by the police and required to sign the sex offenders' register. - (Guardian service)
Border dispute troops to leave
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia and Thailand will withdraw most of the 1,000 troops facing off for a month near a disputed border temple, a Cambodian commander said yesterday. - (Reuters)