A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Journalist shot dead in Philippines
MANILA – A radio reporter has been shot dead in the southern Philippines, the second reporter to be murdered in the country this year, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.
Edwin Segues was also a local village official in Misamis Occidental province on the southern island of Mindanao. He was on his way to work when two men shot him three times and fled, Ramon Diones, police chief in Ozamis City said yesterday.
The Philippines was the most deadly country for journalists in 2009, accounting for 37 of the 132 journalists and support staff killed or who died while working around the world last year, the International News Safety Institute said. – (Reuters)
Eruption in Iceland triggers major flooding
REYKJAVIK – A volcanic eruption in Iceland is spewing black smoke and white steam into the air and has partly melted a glacier, setting off a major flood that threatens to damage roads and bridges.
The plume was seen rising yesterday from a crater under about 200 metres (660ft) of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, close to the site of another eruption which started last month and died down only on Monday, Icelandic state radio reported.
The Icelandic Civil Defence Authority ordered 700 people to evacuate their homes and said melting ice from the glacier had caused significant flooding that threatened to damage a highway and several bridges, an official said. – (Reuters)
Court acquits nurse of patient deaths
AMSTERDAM – A Dutch appeals court has acquitted a nurse of killing seven patients, overturning a conviction for which she spent six years in jail.
Lucia de Berk (48) was convicted on appeal in 2004 of the murders, along with three attempted murders, in a case seen at the time as the nation’s worst serial killing. She had consistently protested her innocence.
The case attracted widespread media publicity as doctors and statisticians campaigned in her favour.
The Supreme Court, which had upheld her conviction in 2006, ordered a review of her case in October 2008, calling into doubt evidence about the chances of her innocence and the cause of death of a baby. – (Reuters)
Ex-Jewish mayor in bribes scandal
JERUSALEM – A former ultra-Orthodox mayor of Jerusalem has been arrested on suspicion of accepting more than $750,000 in bribes, the most senior official caught up so far in a corruption scandal.
Uri Lupolianski, who was remanded into custody, was accused of taking money and changing planning laws to allow the construction of a large and unsightly series of linked apartment blocks on a Jerusalem hillside, known as the Holyland project.
He is suspected of taking bribes, money laundering, conspiracy, fraud, breach of trust and tax offences.
As Mr Lupolianski appeared at the Jerusalem magistrate court yesterday, he told reporters: “I feel good, thank God. I find it strange.”
Mexico air crash claims six dead
MONTERREY – A cargo aircraft crashed late on Tuesday near the airport in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, killing six people, Mexican emergency authorities said.
The Airbus A300 aircraft, operated by privately held AeroUnion, crashed on a road leading to the airport after an aborted landing. Investigators were yesterday still trying to determine the cause of the accident.
“The five crew members died in the accident and another person on the ground was part of the calamity,” civil aviation director Hector Gonzalez told the Milenio TV network.
Mexican media said the aircraft may have hit a vehicle as it crashed on the road. – (Reuters)