Other world stories in brief
Six orphans in Haiti handed to US officials
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Haiti has handed US officials six orphans its police seized over the weekend as they were about to board a plane for the United States.
A spokeswoman for US senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who intervened on behalf of the four women trying to escort the children out of the country, said the children were cleared to depart Haiti by all the required government agencies. The handover followed a meeting between the US ambassador and Haiti’s prime minister. – (AP)
Christian father and sons killed
MOSUL – Armed men stormed the house of a Christian family in northern Iraq yesterday, killing a father and his two sons, police said, in another attack on the minority community ahead of an election.
While violence has declined across Iraq over the last two years, bombings and shootings occur almost daily in the northern city of Mosul, where a struggle for power between Arabs and Kurds, and the presence of al-Qaeda all exacerbate insecurity. – (Reuters)
Man held over synagogue bomb
CAIRO – Egyptian security forces arrested a 49-year-old tailor yesterday on suspicion of trying to bomb a Cairo synagogue in retaliation for Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza, the interior ministry has said.
Security forces believe Gamal Hussein Ahmed threw a primitive explosive device and a suitcase filled with petrol canisters at the synagogue in downtown Cairo on Sunday. The device burst into flames but caused no injuries.
Egypt has been rounding up youths accused of links to Islamist groups. – (Reuters)