Today's other stories in brief
Suicide bomber (64) in Gaza attack
JERUSALEM - A 64-year-old Palestinian woman blew herself up in Gaza yesterday in a suicide bomb attack on Israeli troops. Two soldiers were slightly injured when the woman detonated explosives strapped to her body.
The woman, apparently a supporter of the Hamas militant group, was the oldest suicide bomber to take part in the conflict.
Eight other Palestinians were killed yesterday as the Israeli military led a series of operations across the northern Gaza Strip aimed at stopping militant rocket fire into Israel. - (Reuters)
CIA paid prisoner to keep quiet
BERLIN - A German who says he was kidnapped three years ago and held for months in Afghanistan by the CIA was given money by the Americans to keep quiet, a former German minister said yesterday.
Otto Schily, interior minister at the time, told a parliamentary committee investigating the case of Khaled el-Masri that he was told about the hush money by Daniel Coats, former US ambassador to Germany. - (Reuters)
327,000 hard drug users in UK
BRUSSELS - The UK has 327,466 hardcore "problem drug users" who are regularly using either heroin, crack or cocaine, EU research has revealed. The figure is far higher than a previous estimate of 270,000.
Britons are also spending a total of £5.9 billion (€8.72 billion) a year on illegal drugs, about two-fifths of the amount spent on alcohol and a third of the size of the legal tobacco market, according to Home Office data. - ( Guardian service)
IAEA rejects Iran nuclear request
VIENNA - The UN nuclear watchdog's board of governors yesterday indefinitely blocked Iran's application for technical aid for a reactor project over concerns it could be secretly used to yield bomb-grade plutonium. But diplomats said the ruling, which the International Atomic Energy Agency's board adopted by consensus after days of haggling between industrialised and developing nations, left a theoretical possibility of revisiting Iran's request in future. - ( Reuters)
SA court extends gay couples' rights
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's top court ruled yesterday that gay people may inherit the property of their partners who die without a will, another step toward gay equality in a country where same-sex marriages will be legal by the end of the year.
The Constitutional Court, which last December gave the government one year to legalise gay marriage, said it was illegal to discriminate against same-sex couples when it came to inheritance rights.- (Reuters)
Tributes to news presenter
LONDON - British prime minister Tony Blair led the tributes yesterday to Nick Clarke, presenter of Radio 4's The World At One programme, who has died from cancer aged 58.
"Nick was an outstanding presenter who over many years represented the best elements of public service broadcasting in this country," he said. - (Reuters)
Floor moves for holidaying couple
MADRID - Three people were badly hurt in a luxury Spanish hotel yesterday when two tourists in a bed crashed through the floor on to a man renovating the room below.
A 32-year-old woman suffered various injuries, including serious damage to her arm, while her 38-year-old male companion fractured a vertebra, emergency services said.
The exact cause of the accident in the Toledo hotel remains unknown. - (Reuters)