Other world news in brief
Iraqi karate coach shot dead
BAGHDAD – The coach of the Iraqi national karate team has been shot dead by gunmen in the northern city of Mosul, police said yesterday.
It is not known why Izzat Abdullah was targeted, although sports officials and athletes were regularly attacked at the height of the Iraqi insurgency. – (Reuters)
World hunger to reach 1bn this year
ROME – The global economic crisis will help push 100 million people into poverty this year through lost jobs and lower earnings, leaving one-sixth of the worlds population living in hunger, according to a UN agency. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation forecast the number of people living in hunger would reach a record high of 1.02 billion this year. – (Reuters)
French government may ban burka
PARIS – France’s ability to reconcile secularism with religious diversity came under fresh scrutiny yesterday after the government has said it would not rule out banning Muslim women from wearing the full Islamic veil, the burka.
Five years after a law was passed forbidding children from wearing the headscarf or any other “conspicuous” religious symbol in schools, the government has indicated it is prepared to wade into another thorny row over the state’s right to tell individuals what not to wear. – (Guardian)
Russia sets target to cut emissions
MOSCOW – Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has set greenhouse gas emission goals, saying Russia would aim to cut 30 billion tonnes between 1990-2020.
Russia’s goal would allow a rise in greenhouse gases of 29 to 36 per cent above current levels by 2020, assuming the target was compared with 1990 emissions. – (Reuters)
Thatcher to stay in hospital
LONDON – Surgery to help heal former British prime minister Margaret Thatchers broken arm has been a success but she will remain in hospital for the next few days, her son Mark has said. – (Reuters)