Other stories in brief.
British troops will be out of Iraq by 2008
LONDON - All British troops will be pulled out of Iraq by the end of 2008, starting with the withdrawal of 1,000 in the early summer. Tony Blair is to announce the moves - the result of months of intense debate in Whitehall - within 24 hours, possibly later today, according to officials.
Meanwhile a bomb destroyed a truck carrying chlorine north of Baghdad yesterday, killing five people and spewing out toxic fumes that sickened nearly 140 others, Iraqi police said. In Baghdad, a suicide bomber and two car bombs killed at least 17 people. - (Guardian service, Reuters)
Fierce fighting in Mogadishu
MOGADISHU - Hospitals in Mogadishu yesterday struggled to treat more than 40 wounded, including several children, as the death toll rose to 12 after the worst fighting since Ethiopian troops ousted the Islamists from the Somali capital in late December.
Most of the victims were civilians caught in the crossfire as Ethiopian and pro-government forces exchanged mortar fire with unknown insurgents.- (Guardian service)
White House defends Rumsfeld
WASHINGTON - The White House defended Donald Rumsfeld yesterday from criticism from Republican senator John McCain that he was one of the worst US defence secretaries ever for his handling of the Iraq war.
"We think Donald Rumsfeld was an enormously consequential and effective secretary of defence and somebody who led to the transformation of the department of defence. Senator McCain holds a different point of view," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. - (Reuters)
Racist killers jailed for life
LEEDS - Four members of racist gang who stoned and stamped to death a British Asian taxi driver after luring him into a cul-de-sac on a false call were jailed for life yesterday.
Jailing Christopher Murphy and Michael Hand (both 19), Graeme Slain (18) and Steven Utile (17) for the murder of Mohammad Parvis (41), Judge Dame Heather Steel said the Huddersfield gang had been merciless to their victim, kicking him and stamping on his head as he lay dying in the street last July. - (Guardian service)
Poland recalls more ambassadors
WARSAW - Poland summoned several ambassadors home yesterday to discuss an investigation that identified them as agents for a disbanded intelligence agency the government says worked for Russia.
Envoys from China, Turkey and Kuwait were asked to return to Poland after their names were in a government report which accused hundreds of Poles in positions of authority of working for the Russian military intelligence service. - (Reuters)
Guantánamo appeals rejected
WASHINGTON - Prisoners in Guantanamo cannot challenge their detention before US federal judges, an appeals court ruled yesterday in upholding a key part of a tough anti-terrorism law sought by President George Bush.
The US Court of Appeals ruled that the law that Congress passed last year took away the rights of the prisoners in Cuba to bring such cases and that hundreds of their lawsuits must be dismissed. - (Reuters)
Brothers killed in head-on crash
MICHIGAN - Two brothers were killed in a head-on collision with each other on Sunday. Jessie (24) and James West (33) were killed when James lost control of his car and crossed into the path of his brother's car, police said. - (AP)