More world news in brief.
34 killed in Iraq bomb attacks
BAGHDAD -Three bomb attacks killed 34 people and wounded dozens more in Iraq yesterday, underscoring the security challenges facing the next US military commander in the country.
US defence secretary Robert Gates, who earlier arrived in Baghdad, said Lieut-Gen Ray Odierno must find ways to keep improving security while American troop levels are falling.
Mr Gates will preside over a ceremony today to hand command of US-led forces in Iraq to Gen Odierno from Gen David Petraeus. - (Reuters)
Bosnian army leader jailed
THE HAGUE -The former leader of Bosnia's Muslim army, Rasim Delic, was sentenced yesterday to three years in jail by a UN war crimes tribunal for allowing the torture of Bosnian Serb soldiers by Islamic foreign fighters.
The judgment cited the "appallingly brutal" mistreatment meted out by Islamic foreign fighters during the 1992-95 Bosnia war. The tribunal judges decided by majority that Delic was guilty of one count of cruel treatment by soldiers under his command.
Delic (59) failed to prevent or punish cruel treatment by Mujahideen fighters in the village of Livade and Kamenica Camp in central Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, the tribunal said. - (Reuters)
Ferry sinks near Turkish port
ISTANBUL -A ferry carrying 95 passengers and crew sank near Turkey's northwest port of Bandirma on Sunday night, killing one person. Four people are missing. - (Reuters)
Ancestor of ants found in Amazon
LONDON -An ancient ancestor of ants has been discovered living in the soils of the Amazon rainforest.
The species, named Martialis heureka, or "ant from Mars", because of its unusual features, is a pale-bodied, blind predator that uses oversized jaws to capture prey. Genetic tests on the 3mm-long species show it emerged at the very earliest stages of ant evolution, said Christian Rabeling at the University of Texas at Austin. - (Guardian service)