Today's stories in brief
British bomb kills Afghan civilians
LONDON - Four civilians died in an air strike ordered by British forces in southern Afghanistan, Britain's ministry of defence said yesterday.
The strike was called in after Taliban militants ambushed British troops in the southern province of Helmand, the ministry said. The dead included two women and two children and a fifth person was injured.
"We deeply regret that this incident happened and do everything we can to mitigate this happening," the ministry said. - (Reuters)
US criticises Egyptian arrests
WASHINGTON - The White House said yesterday it was concerned by a "campaign of arrests" in Egypt of people involved in upcoming elections.
Since mid-February, Egypt has detained more than 350 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's strongest opposition force. The detentions coincide with a 10-day registration period for candidates seeking to participate in local elections on April 8th. - (Reuters)
Gunman kills child witness
SOFIA - A gunman shot dead a 15-year-old girl and wounded two other children at a Bulgarian orphanage on Wednesday before killing himself, police said.
The 67-year-old killer had been investigated over alleged sexual abuse of one of the wounded children, a police official said. The dead girl had been summoned as a witness in the case.
Police denied media reports that the man was a former supervisor who was fired from the care home for orphans and abandoned children in Tran, a town 90 km (55 miles) west of Sofia. - (Reuters)
Israel blacklists Al-Jazeera
JERUSALEM - Israel said on Wednesday it would no longer co-operate with the influential Arabic television station Al- Jazeera, accusing it of one-sided reporting that favours the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israeli officials said the government would not grant interviews to the Qatar-based satellite station and could deny visas to its employees due to its coverage of fighting between Israel and militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Al-Jazeera denied having any bias. - (Reuters)
Mafioso too fat for jail, court told
ROME - A court in Sicily has ruled that an accused Mafioso can be put under house arrest because he is too fat for any Italian jail.
Salvatore Ferranti, who weighs 210 kg (462 pounds), was allowed to go home after spending six months in four Italian prisons, says his lawyer. Guards at the first two prisons said they constantly needed to help Ferranti (36) get dressed and undressed, move about and go to the bathroom. Guards at other prisons said there was no bed big enough for him. - (Reuters)
Police chief's death mystery
LONDON - A postmortem carried out on the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Michael Todd has revealed no obvious cause of death, the coroner's office said.
Mr Todd was found dead at the foot of a cliff in north Wales on Tuesday. He had spoken of personal problems before his death but police denied reports that suicide notes had been found. - (Reuters)