World in brief

Sunday 06 November 2011

The latest news from around the world

Flood waters rise in Bangkok north

Thailand: Polluted black flood waters continued to swamp northern Bangkok today as the death toll climbed past 500.

Water poured across major road junctions and approached a main road near the capital's Mo Chit bus terminal, a major gateway to northern Thailand, although the bus station remained open.

Three months of intense rainfall have fuelled Thailand's worst flooding in half a century.

Suicide bombing kills seven people

Afghanistan: Seven people were killed in suicide bomb attack targeting worshippers marking a key Muslim festival in the north of the country today.

Two local police commanders were among the victims of one of two suicide bombers.

The second attacker was captured before he could set off his explosives.

Nato announced today that one of its soldiers had been killed in an insurgent attack in the south on Saturday.

NTC troops rally calls for payment

Libya: Hundreds of armed militiamen nominally loyal to the new Western-backed regime rallied in Tripoli on Saturday night to demand payment for their efforts.

The gunmen massed in front of a swanky hotel where NTC oil and finance chief Ali Tarhouni has his office and let loose volleys of gunfire into the air.

They complained that they hadn't been paid since they launched an insurgency in March.

Ahmed Hamaza said: "We need money to buy food for our family ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday as food prices are soaring."

Watchdog brings Walmart to heel

Namibia: The supreme court has endorsed conditions slapped on US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc by the competition watchdog relating to a $2.4 billion investment in South African firm Massmart Holdings Ltd.

The US company bought up a 51 per cent stake in Massmart, which operates in 14 African countries, in June.

In response the Namibian competition watchdog has demanded assurances that the deal will not result in lay-offs or hurt small and medium-sized businesses.

It also said that the merger must serve to promote "greater spread of ownership" among black citizens.

Miners rescued after 48 hours

China: Forty-five grimy, exhausted coal miners trapped by a cave-in were rescued on Saturday after a 36-hour ordeal.

State broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers with helmets and oxygen tanks carrying the workers out of the mine shaft to ambulances.

At least 200 workers dug a small rescue tunnel about 1,500 feet deep to reach the trapped miners following last Thursday's cave-in, the People's Daily newspaper said.

Eight miners were killed in the accident in Sanmenxia city, Henan province, and seven trapped miners were pulled out alive on Friday.

Match cancelled due to flooding

Italy: Security officials in Naples cancelled the evening football match between Napoli and Juventus today because of fears of flooding following torrential rain.

The match had been expected to draw 50,000 fans. Authorities also closed the ancient ruins at Pompeii.

A tree fell on a car in the Naples suburb of Pozzuoli during a rainstorm on Saturday, killing a man.

Flash flooding in Genoa on Friday killed six people.

State asks citizens to lay down arms

Syria: The government has called on citizens involved in selling, distributing or otherwise handling weapons to turn themselves in and hand their arms over to the nearest police station, pledging that they would be treated leniently and released soon if they did so.

The Interior Ministry declared at the weekend that citizens who handed in weapons by next Saturday would be granted a "general amnesty" - as long as they hadn't killed anyone.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused security forces of killing at least five people in the flashpoint central province of Homs today.