A look at today's world news in brief
Russia to beef up nuclear arsenal
RUSSIA:Russia said yesterday it would build a space defence system and a new fleet of nuclear submarines by 2020, beefing up its nuclear deterrent at a time of heightened tensions with Washington.
Announcing the biggest defence initiative in Russia for at least a decade, president Dmitry Medvedev said this summer's war with Georgia showed the need for Russia to have a strong military. - (Reuters)
Taliban free 118 labourers
AFGHANISTAN:Taliban insurgents have freed 118 labourers they kidnapped in western Afghanistan last week, Taliban commanders and Afghan officials said yesterday. The Taliban abducted more than 140 workers who were helping to construct an army base. They were seized in Farah province last Sunday while travelling in a convoy of buses. Three workers were freed soon after. - (Reuters)
1,000 Islamist militants killed
PAKISTAN:Pakistani forces have killed up to 1,000 Islamist militants in an offensive over the key northwestern region of Bajaur this month, an army commander said yesterday.
Government forces launched an offensive in Bajaur in August and have been involved in heavy fighting sincethen. - (Reuters)
Twins on fraud charge over work
ITALY: An Italian woman who worked as a part-time judge as well as a lawyer was substituted by her identical twin sister in court so she would not lose out on legal fees when she had two simultaneous engagements.
The 54-year-old twins from northern Italy have now been charged with fraud and will go on trial in January. When one of the twins was called to be a substitute judge she sent her twin to stand in for her as a defence lawyer elsewhere in Milan. The problem was she was not a lawyer but charged the clients anyway. - (Reuters)
Stolen masterpiece recovered
ITALY: Italian police said yesterday they had recovered a painting by Impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stolen in Milan in 1975 from a private collector. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of trafficking in stolen art works. The small oil, featuring the back of a naked woman turning her head towards the viewer, has a commercial value of about €500,000. - (Reuters)