A round-up of today's other world news stories in brief ...
Seven rebels in Russia shot dead by troops
MOSCOW – Interior ministry troops shot dead seven suspected rebels yesterday in a firefight in Russia’s North Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria, Interfax news agency said, quoting local law enforcement.
The fighting began when the troops attempted to raid a suspected rebel hideout in a forested mountain area of the province, which is located west of the restive regions of Ingushetia and Chechnya, the report said. – (Reuters)
Bombs kill 16, injure 45 in Iraq
BAGHDAD – Sixteen people were killed and 45 wounded yesterday when twin car bombs exploded at a bus terminal and market area in southwestern Baghdad, Iraqi police said.
The co-ordinated explosions at the terminal in the Bayaa neighbourhood took place as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shias were making their way toward a holy city for an annual pilgrimage, a ritual often targeted by insurgent attacks. – (Reuters)
Air collision kills two young cadets
LONDON – Two teenage air cadets and two RAF instructors were killed after a mid-air collision yesterday.
The two light aircraft crashed over sand dunes on the south Wales coast just before 11am. The Air Training Corps cadets were taking part in a half-hour air experience flight from nearby RAF St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan. Sources said both cadets were girls. – (PA)
Bishop rejects Vatican reforms
PARIS – An ultra- traditionalist bishop seeking rehabilitation from the Vatican said yesterday that his breakaway movement could not fully accept landmark 20th-century church reforms.
Bishop Bernard Fellay, whose excommunication was lifted last month along with those of three other bishops, said his Society of Saint Pius X did not agree with a key Vatican document on respecting other religions. – (Reuters)
State air force chief shot dead
BAKU – The air force chief of Azerbaijan was shot dead outside his home yesterday, a crime the president of the oil-producing state lodged between Russia and Iran said looked like a bid to sow political instability.
Lieut-Gen Rail Rzayev was the most senior official to have been killed since a series of assassinations in the 1990s that were blamed by the authorities on organised crime or attempts to undermine the government. – (Reuters)
KBR pleads guilty over bribes
HOUSTON – KBR, the former subsidiary of Halliburton, has pleaded guilty in the US to federal charges that the engineering company paid $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials in a decade-long scheme to secure $6 billion in contracts. KBR will pay a $402 million fine and be subject to a court-appointed monitor for three years. – (Reuters)
‘Santa Claus’ singer dies
LOS ANGELES – Molly Bee, the country music star who recorded the 1952 novelty hit I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, has died in California following a stroke. – (AP)
Anti-Islamic MP plans UK visit
LONDON – Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders, who is facing prosecution because of his anti-Islam remarks, said yesterday he planned to fly to Britain despite being refused entry to the country as a threat to public security. – (Reuters)