A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Suicide bomber kills 14 in Pakistan
HANGU – A suicide bomber rammed a tractor laden with explosives into a hospital in a northwest Pakistan town yesterday, killing at least 14 people in what appeared to be a sectarian attack, said officials.
Officials said Shia Muslims were praying in a room inside the hospital when the bomb exploded in the town of Hangu. Police officials said the bomber drove the tractor into the hospital in Hangu. They said three policemen were among the dead, with 16 people wounded.
Pakistan’s government faces Taliban insurgents who have sustained a campaign of suicide bombings in defiance of military offensives launched last year. – (Reuters)
Suspected drug lord killed in shoot-out
MEXICO CITY – Suspected drug lord Nazario Moreno, known as “The Craziest One”, was killed late on Thursday in a shoot-out with security forces in western Mexico, a government spokesman said yesterday.
Moreno was believed to be one of the leaders of the cult-like La Familia (The Family) drug cartel, dominant in President Felipe Calderon’s home state of Michoacan. He was shot dead in a firefight with security forces in the Apatzingan area, a La Familia stronghold, the spokesman said. Moreno preached Bible scripture mixed with self-help slogans to gang members and promoted a mystique unique among Mexican gangs by claiming to protect the local population. – (Reuters)
Petraeus voted 'most fascinating'
LOS ANGELES – Gen David Petraeus, the top US military commander in Afghanistan, has been named the “most fascinating person of 2010”, beating the cast of MTV show Jersey Shore and teen singer Justin Bieber.
Veteran journalist Barbara Walters called Petraeus a “true American hero” and placed him top of her annual list on Thursday.
Petraeus (58) was named in June to head US and Nato forces in Afghanistan after serving as head of the US Central Command overseeing Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen. He is also credited with pulling Iraq back from the brink of all-out sectarian war in 2007. – (Reuters)
Former Crotian leader arrested
VIENNA/ZAGREB – Former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader, wanted in connection with an anti-corruption investigation, was arrested on a highway in Austria yesterday, Vienna’s federal crime office said.
Mr Sanader left Croatia on Thursday shortly before parliament lifted his immunity from prosecution. Prosecutors suspect him of being behind a plan to create slush funds for his conservative HDZ party during his 2004-2009 tenure in power.
Mr Sanader denies the accusations, saying they were politically motivated. He is the highest-ranking Croatian official investigated for corruption. – (Reuters)