A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Afghan police kill 33 Taliban insurgents
KANDAHAR- Afghan police killed 33 Taliban insurgents after a roadside bomb detonated by militants killed eight policemen in the southern province of Kandahar, the provincial governor said yesterday.
The policemen were killed on Monday and the same day police began a follow-up operation against the Taliban, governor Assadullah Khalid said. - (Reuters)
19,000 murdered in South Africa
PRETORIA- More than 19,000 people were murdered in South Africa over the last year, according to statistics released by the South African government yesterday.
Murder was not the only category of major crime to have risen. In the two areas which particularly alarm middle class South Africans - car hijackings and residential robberies - the figures were up by 6 per cent and 25.4 per cent respectively. - (Guardian service)
Sudanese homeless after flash floods
KHARTOUM- Flash floods in the Sudanese town of Rabak have made at least 2,500 people homeless with more rain expected, the Sudanese Red Crescent said yesterday.
"They have no shelter, there is a real risk of disease outbreaks," said Afaf Bukhari from the Sudanese Red Crescent. - (Reuters)
Spain to offer €2,500 baby bonus
MADRID- The family of every child born in Spain will get €2,500 to help raise the country's low birth rate and support the fast- growing economy, prime minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday.
The bonus follows similar moves in France and Scandinavia to encourage larger families and counteract a trend towards ageing populations that burden pension and social security systems. - (Reuters)
UN truck crash leaves four dead
MARJAYOUN- A Lebanese family of four was killed when their truck crashed into a UN peacekeeping fuel truck in southern Lebanon yesterday, witnesses said. - (Reuters)