Other world news in brief
Suicide car bomb kills 25 near Baghdad
BAGHDAD -A suicide car bomb killed 25 people and wounded 40 others outside a police station north of Baghdad yesterday.
Police said the attack, one of the deadliest in Iraq in months, took place in the town of Dujail in Salahuddin province. - (Reuters)
23 killed in Taliban ambush
KABUL- At least 23 people were killed when Taliban insurgents ambushed a US security firm convoy in southwestern Afghanistan yesterday, the second attack on the firm in as many days.
A Farah province police chief said 15 of the dead were Taliban militants. - (Reuters)
Kos child not missing Italian
ATHENS- Greek police said DNA tests showed a child found on the Aegean island of Kos was not missing Italian girl Denise Pipitone.
Police seized the girl and arrested a 34-year-old Roma woman she was with earlier this week following a tip-off from Interpol after a family friend of the missing girl thought she had spotted her on Kos. "The DNA test has shown that the Roma woman is the natural mother of the girl," police said. - (Reuters)
Brown sacks junior minister
LONDON- British prime minister Gordon Brown sacked a junior minister after she called for a contest to replace him in the first direct challenge to his authority from inside the government.
Siobhan McDonagh (48) was replaced as an assistant Labour Party whip after she said the prime minister's position was being widely debated within Labour.
She told ITN News her sacking, announced by Mr Brown's office in London last night, was "a price well worth paying". She was replaced by Dawn Butler, a fellow Labour MP - (Bloomberg)
Election called in New Zealand
WELLINGTON- New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark yesterday called a general election for November 8th, hoping to win a fourth straight term in office despite being dogged by economic recession and political scandal. - (Reuters)