A round-up of today's other world stories in brief ...
Merkel calls for better gun law supervision
BERLIN – German chancellor Angela Merkel has called for greater supervision of her country’s gun laws, after a teenager shot dead 15 people last week before killing himself.
Dr Merkel said she had been stunned by the massacre in the southwestern town of Winnenden, where Tim Kretschmer (17) shot 15 people with his father’s pistol, including 12 at his former school.
Dr Merkel told Deutschlandfunk radio it was crucial that rules about the storage of weapons and ammunition were applied. – (Reuters)
200 people killed in south Sudan
JUBA – Heavily armed fighters have killed more than 200 people in raids on villages in south Sudan, where bloody tribal disputes over cattle are jeopardising peace efforts in the oil-rich region.
The commissioner of Pibor County, Akot M Adikiu, said he had seen more than 200 bodies, but had heard reports that hundreds more may have been killed in a string of attacks over the past two weeks. – (Reuters)
Venezuelan army takes over ports
CARACAS – Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has ordered the military to take over the country’s ports and airports, a move aimed at gaining control of installations run by opposition-ruled state governments.
Mr Chavez in recent months has removed regional leaders’ control of services such as hospitals and police forces, sparking accusations he is undermining opposition elected officials and concentrating his hold on power. – (Reuters)
Four die in Yemen suicide bomb
YEMEN – Four South Korean tourists have been killed in a suicide bombing in southern Yemen, according to security officials.
The tourists were travelling in a convoy in the southern province of Hadramout. – (AP)
Sammy Davis jnr’s widow dies
LOS ANGELES – Altovise Davis, the widow of Rat Pack singer and dancer Sammy Davis jnr, has died in Los Angeles from complications of a stroke, the Los Angeles Timesreported yesterday.
Ms Davis, who died on Saturday, was 65 years old. – (Reuters)
Three years’ jail for Syrian dissident
DAMASCUS – A Syrian court has sentenced a dissident to three years in jail for “weakening national feelings” after he published articles critical of the political system, human rights activists said. Habib Saleh (64) has already spent five years as political prisoner over two terms between 2001 and 2007. – (Reuters)
Five killed in Miami shooting
MIAMI – A man has shot and killed four people before taking his own life in Miami, police in Florida have said.
A sergeant with the Miami police department's homicide division said the man killed three females
and a male in the city's Little Havana district shortly after midnight yesterday. He then drove away and turned the gun on himself at his home.
“It was domestic-related,” the sergeant said.
“The wife left him and he tracked her down, unfortunately.” – (Reuters)