News In Brief

CIA apologises for spying on US Senate
Afp, Washington

Lawmakers slammed the CIA on Thursday after the US intelligence agency admitted its officers had "improperly" spied upon Senate investigators probing allegations of torture. The CIA Director John Brennan has apologised to the head of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), Senator Dianne Feinstein, and admitted her staff's computers had been accessed. Previously, Brennan had dismissed the allegations, insisting that "nothing could be further from the truth."

Hope fades for India landslide survivors
Afp, Malin

Rescue workers were losing hope of finding survivors yesterday amid the mud and debris from a major landslide in western India, where 150 people are feared to have been killed. Sixty bodies and eight survivors have now been pulled from the site where a village once stood in a remote part of Maharashtra state, but incessant rains and strong winds have hampered rescue efforts. The tragedy occurred on Wednesday.

Somali lawmaker shot dead in Mogadishu
Afp, Mogadishu

Somali gunmen shot dead a lawmaker, Sheikh Adan Madeer, in Mogadishu yesterday as he left prayers at mosque, police and witnesses said. Gunmen reportedly opened fire from a car in a drive-by shooting in the centre of the city, before racing off. Madeer, who was chairman of the parliamentary finance committee, is the fifth Somali deputy to be killed since the start of the year. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

22 killed in Central Africa fighting
Afp, Bangui

At least 22 people were killed in clashes between rival anti-balaka (Christian) and Seleka (Muslim) militias in the Central African Republic this week, African peacekeepers said yesterday. Clashes between the two groups have plunged the country into a cycle of brutal sectarian violence that has left thousands of people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Myanmar relieves 91 child soldiers: UN
Afp, Yangon

Myanmar's army has freed 91 children and young people from its armed forces, the United Nations said yesterday, in the country's latest move towards ending the use of child soldiers. The reformist government of the formerly junta-run nation committed to ending the recruitment and use of children in its "tatmadaw" army in a June 2012 pact with the UN.

Karachi sea bathing tragedy toll hits 31
Afp, Karachi

Rescuers have recovered 10 more bodies in rough seas off Pakistan's biggest city Karachi as the search for a group of bathers who drowned earlier this week resumed yesterday, officials said. The authorities said the total number of corpses taken from the sea has now reached 31. 

Blast at explosives factory kills 5 in India
Afp, Raipur

A massive blast at an explosives factory in central India killed five workers early yesterday, police said. The powerful explosion completely destroyed the factory, which supplied detonators and other explosives to mines in the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh. Police are investigating what caused the blast.