News In Brief
Pakistan appoints new spy chief
Afp, Islamabad
Pakistan yesterday named a new head of its main intelligence agency, considered the second most powerful official in the military after the army chief. The naming of Rizwan Akhtar as director general of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency comes as a protest movement to topple the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif enters its second month. He is expected to formally take the role on November 8.
Syria air strikes kill 42
Afp, Beirut
Syrian government air strikes killed at least 42 people, including 16 children, in Idlib province in the northwest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday. The air raids on Sunday afternoon and evening killed 19 people, including six children, outside the city of Saraqeb, and another 23 people, among them 10 children, in the town of Ehsim, the monitoring group said.
Tibetan man self-immolates in China
Afp, Beijing
A Tibetan man has burned himself to death in northwest China, overseas media and a campaign group reported on Monday, the latest in a string of self-immolation protests in recent years against Beijing's control. At least 130 Tibetans have set themselves alight in China since 2009, according to tallies by campaign groups. The last such reported self-immolation was in April.
Bainimarama sworn in as Fiji's PM
Afp, Suva
Coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama was sworn in as Fiji's new prime minister yesterday, five days after the South Pacific nation held its first general election since 2006. Official results showed Bainimarama swept the election with almost 60 percent of the vote.
Nasa's spacecraft enters Mars orbit
Afp, Washington
Nasa's MAVEN spacecraft began orbiting Mars on Sunday, on a mission to study how the Red Planet's climate changed over time from warm and wet to cold and dry. The unmanned orbiter has traveled more than 10 months and 711 million kilometers to reach Mars for a first-of-its kind look at the planet's upper atmosphere. How Mars lost its atmosphere is one of science's biggest mysteries. The answers could shed light on the planet's potential to support life -- even if that was just microbial life -- long ago.
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