A round-up of today's world news in brief
Aircraft crash in Kinshasaclaims 19 lives
KINSHASA- At least 19 people died when a Russian-made cargo aircraft crashed and exploded yesterday in a teeming neighbourhood of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, officials said.
Seventeen passengers and crew on the Antonov 26 aircraft belonging to Congolese airline Africa 1 were killed when it came down on several houses in the Kingasani neighbourhood, shortly after taking off from Ndjili international airport.
- (Reuters)
US Bill aims to curb contractors
WASHINGTON- Jolted by a shooting incident involving security firm Blackwater that killed 11 Iraqis, US lawmakers passed a Bill yesterday to make all government contractors accountable under US law for their actions.
But the Bill, voted 389-30 in the House of Representatives, has to go to the Senate before becoming law and faces opposition from the White House.
- (Reuters)
Stolen da Vinci painting found
LONDON- Police yesterday recovered a painting credited to Leonardo da Vinci that had been stolen from a Scottish castle four years ago by thieves disguised as tourists.
Police said four men had been arrested. The painting was recovered in the Glasgow area. Insurers had offered a six-figure reward for the recovery of Madonna of the Yarnwinder. - (Reuters)
34 skeletons found in Moscow mansion
MOSCOW- Russian workers renovating a Tsarist noble's mansion in Moscow found 34 skeletons, probably killed during Josef Stalin's purges in the 1930s, police said yesterday.
Workers found the remains underneath a basement at a mansion formerly owned by the Sheremetev family and a few paces from the secret police headquarters.
- (Reuters)
Iran defiant on nuclear energy
TEHRAN- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday said Iran had overcome difficulties en route to a nuclear energy industry and no one could stop it, a day after France called for wider European sanctions to rein in Tehran.
Diplomats said Iran had installed close to 3,000 centrifuge machines for fuel refining. - (Reuters)