A round-up of today's other stories in brief
No fatalities reported in LA earthquake
LOS ANGELES - A moderate earthquake struck east of Los Angeles yesterday, shaking tall buildings in the city, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries or damage.
The earthquake, measured at magnitude 5.8, was centred about 30 miles (48km) east of Los Angeles near Chino Hills, where it was felt strongly.
Witnesses reported strong shaking in neighbouring Orange County and as far south as San Diego.
The Los Angeles fire department said there were no injuries reported.
In downtown Los Angeles, tall buildings swayed from side to side for a few seconds and workers poured into the streets. A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport said there were no flight delays due to the quake.
- (Reuters)
Sikh teenager wins bangle case
LONDON - A Sikh teenager suspended from school for wearing a religious bangle won her high court fight to overturn the decision yesterday.
Sarika Singh (14), from south Wales, said the plain steel bracelet was a symbol of her faith and should be exempt from her school's ban on wearing jewellery.
Senior judge Mr Justice Stephen Silber accepted her argument and quashed the decision by the governing body of Aberdare Girls' High School, north of Cardiff.
The case was the latest to test whether pupils can wear religious clothes or symbols in school. In 2006, Shabina Begum lost her fight for girls to be allowed to wear a Muslim jiljab, or long gown, in class. - (Reuters)
3,000 passports and visas stolen
LONDON - The British foreign office has launched an urgent inquiry into the theft of 3,000 blank passports and visas from a security van in Manchester.
The documents, which were being taken to RAF Northolt for delivery to embassies abroad, were snatched after the van driver stopped and went into a shop at 6.40am on Monday.
A foreign office spokesman acknowledged the theft was a serious breach and said an immediate review had been ordered.
It is the latest in a string of incidents involving government loss of personal data and private or top-secret documents. - (Reuters)
Result in fight against Aids
WASHINGTON - The numbers of people dying of Aids and becoming infected with the virus that causes it have dropped modestly in recent years amid intensified global efforts to fight the disease, a UN agency said yesterday.
About 33 million people globally were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus in 2007 - most in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert - down from 33.2 million in 2006, the annual UN report on the Aids epidemic said.
The number of Aids deaths fell for the second straight year, with an estimated two million people succumbing to the disease in 2007, according to the report by UNAIDS. - (Reuters)
South African for top rights post
UNITED NATIONS - Judge Navanethem Pillay of South Africa, a leading opponent of apartheid 40 years ago, yesterday assumed office as United Nations high commissioner for human rights. She was confirmed in the post on Monday by envoys of the world body's 192 member governments.
Secretary general Ban Ki-moon nominated Ms Pillay (66) for the Geneva-based post last week, and his choice was ratified by a consensus vote of the UN General Assembly.
Ms Pillay, currently a judge with the appeals division of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, previously served as president and judge on the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. - (Bloomberg)