Other stories from around the world in brief
Bloody battles for UK troops in Afghanistan
LONDON - British soldiers in Afghanistan are engaged in fighting that is more intense and prolonged than any other conflict during the past 50 years, the British commander of all foreign troops in Afghanistan has warned.
Some soldiers will be withdrawn from the region of southern Afghanistan where they have engaged in bloody battles with the Taliban, Lieut Gen David Richards told the BBC yesterday. He said the British soldiers would be replaced by Afghans. - (Guardian service)
1.5m people flee typhoon in China
BEIJING - The most powerful typhoon to strike China for half a century tore into one of the country's manufacturing heartlands yesterday, killing at least two people, injuring 80 and forcing the evacuation of 1.5 million residents.- (Guardian service)
Tamil Tigers say army killed 50
KANTALE - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have said that more than 50 civilians have been killed and 200 wounded in their territory in the island's east during a major army offensive to capture a water supply.
An ammunition dump exploded at an army camp east of the government-held town of Kantale, one of the main eastern artillery sites. The army said yesterday it feared many troops had died or had been wounded. - (Reuters)
Locals try to block neo-Nazi hotel
BERLIN - Residents in the small town of Delmenhorst in Lower Saxony are frantically trying to raise €3.4 million to buy a hotel before it is taken over by an extremist organisation that reportedly plans to use it as a neo-Nazi rallying point.
The ultra-right group is led by Jürgen Rieger, a Hamburg lawyer and well-known neo-Nazi who has defended prominent Holocaust deniers and leads an annual rally in Bavaria in honour of Rudolf Hess. - (Guardian service)
Two held in US on Hizbullah charges
CHICAGO - Two 20-year- old men arrested in Ohio and found with airport security information and airline passenger lists were being held on state charges of money laundering on behalf of Hizbullah, authorities said.
Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, of Dearborn, Michigan, were apprehended during a traffic stop in Marietta, Ohio, on Tuesday. - (Reuters)
Ethiopian floods death toll rises
ADDIS ABABA - The death toll from flash floods that hit an eastern Ethiopian town rose to 254 yesterday as rescuers widened their search for 250 people still missing, police said. - (Reuters)
Lobster claws back missing cash
PLYMOUTH - Swimmer Paul Westlake thought he had seen the last of his wallet when it vanished during a late-night dip - until it turned up in the claws of a lobster.
The 30-year-old's wallet was handed in a few days later by a diver - who had caught the lobster and found the creature firmly grasping it. Mr Westlake told the Plymouth Evening Herald newspaper: "I have never eaten a lobster and I never will now." - (Reuters )
Man made 37,760 silent phone calls
TOKYO - A Japanese man was arrested this week after making 37,760 silent calls to directory inquiries because he wanted to listen to the "kind" voices of female telephone operators.
The 44-year-old has admitted to allegations of obstructing the operations of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp by making up to 905 calls a day from his mobile phone, the daily Mainichi Shimbun reported yesterday. - (Reuters)