A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Nine dead as bomb destroys car travelling to Afghan wedding
PUL-E-KHUMRI – A roadside bomb destroyed a car carrying nine people to a wedding in northern Afghanistan yesterday, killing everyone inside including a child, the provincial governor said. The previous day, six civilians were killed by a roadside bomb in the southern province of Helmand and six died after an air strike by foreign forces in mountainous eastern Kunar, according to local officials.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government. Yesterday’s explosion in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, killed six women and two men along with the child, said governor Abdul Majid. In Kunar, three children were among the dead in the airborne attack on two houses in the Kodagai area of the province. – (Reuters)
Marine Le Pen new far-right leader
TOURS – France’s far-right National Front party has elected Marine Le Pen as its new leader and likely presidential candidate, replacing her 82-year-old father Jean-Marie Le Pen, party sources said.
The news of the Friday vote leaked early and several sources confirmed a clear victory for daughter Marine over the other main contender, Bruno Gollnisch.
“Marine Le Pen’s victory was very clear cut,” said one of several party officials who confirmed her win, speaking on condition of anonymity during a party congress in the western French city of Tours.
Putting a fresh, less firebrand, face on the hard-right party has won Marine Le Pen points in opinion polls. – (Reuters)
Jewish homes set for approval
JERUSALEM – A plan to build 1,400 new homes for Jews on Israeli-annexed land in the West Bank could be approved as early as next week by Israel’s Jerusalem municipality, a city council member said yesterday.
Meir Margalit said the Jerusalem city planning commission was on January 24th set to consider building plans for Gilo, a urban settlement built on land Israel captured in 1967. “It is another nail in the peace process’s coffin,” said Mr Margalit, a member of the left-wing opposition party Meretz. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton last week denounced the demolition of a derelict hotel in East Jerusalem to make way for 20 homes for Jews in a settlement project. – (Reuters)
Offshore bank account data to be leaked
ZURICH - A former Swiss private banker who was one of the first whistleblowers to use WikiLeaks by publishing internal bank documents on the site has pledged to hand over new data on offshore bank account holders today, a newspaper said. Rudolf Elmer, who was fired from Julius Baer in 2002 and who goes on trial in Switzerland on Wednesday for breaching bank secrecy, will hand over more data to WikiLeaks in London, Der Sonntagreported. Mr Elmer said he would hand over two compact discs containing names and account details of about 2,000 bank clients. - (Reuters)