A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Attackers killed as police free 50 held by gunmen in Iraqi church
BAGHDAD– Gunmen held more than 50 Catholic parishioners hostage for several hours in an Iraqi church yesterday, threatening to kill them if al-Qaeda prisoners were not released, before a police raid ended the stand-off.
The group of gunmen wearing suicide vests besieged the church of Our Lady of Salvation, one of Baghdad’s biggest churches, during Sunday Mass.
Baghdad security spokesman Maj Gen Qassim al-Moussawi said five attackers were killed during the rescue operation as well as one policeman and one church-goer. Twelve people were wounded, he added.
A federal police source said the attackers were demanding the release of al-Qaeda prisoners. – (Reuters)
Zuma in major cabinet reshuffle
PRETORIA– South African president Jacob Zuma has sacked seven ministers in a cabinet reshuffle aimed at bolstering the government and seen as making some concessions to the left.
Mr Zuma said the reshuffle was aimed at boosting government ministries and improving basic services and the lives of the poor.
The government's leftist allies, in labour federation Cosatu and the South African Communist Party, have piled pressure on Mr Zuma to create jobs and lift growth. Relations between the ruling ANC and Cosatu soured over the recent public sector strike, however. – (Reuters)
Haitians warned of hurricane risk
HAITI– Authorities yesterday urged hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in crowded tent camps in the wake of the January earthquake to seek new shelter as Hurricane Tomas may hit the country.
Tomas weakened slightly to a Category 1 storm after ripping off roofs and knocking down trees and power lines across several small eastern Caribbean islands.
Forecasts show Tomas strengthening by tomorrow to a Category 3 or 4 hurricane as it passes south of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where more than a million survivors are living in tent camps. – (Reuters)