News In Brief
US charges man in ricin probe
Afp, Washington
A 41-year-old martial arts instructor was charged with sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and other public officials following his arrest Saturday.
James Everett Dutschke was formally charged with attempted use of a biological weapon just hours after being detained at his home in Tupelo, Mississippi at 12:50am by federal agents.
The potentially lethal letters had been sent to Obama, a US senator and a Mississippi judicial officer.
Israel air raids target Gaza militants
Afp, Gaza City
Israeli warplanes launched three strikes early yesterday on the Gaza Strip, targeting radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad but causing no casualties, witnesses said.
Two air strikes hit the southern town of Khan Yunis, targeting positions of the Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. The third was near the southern town of Rafah straddling the border with Egypt, the Palestinian witnesses said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the air force had carried out strikes on Gaza, but told AFP she could not give any further details.
The Israeli authorities on Sunday also closed the Kerem Shalom goods crossing until further notice after a rocket attack, the defence ministry said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting that Israel would retaliate with great force against any rocket or missile fire.
Israel had not carried out air raids on Gaza since early April, when it launched the first strikes since a truce brokered by Egypt in November ended a deadly eight-day conflict between the Jewish state and militants of Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the territory.
13 killed in Mexico prison riot
Afp, Mexico City
At least 13 inmates were killed and 87 others injured in a prison riot in the state of San Luis Potosi, north of Mexico City, said state governor Fernando Toranzo.
Of those injured, at least 22 were hospitalised with serious injuries. The inmates were killed in a battle involving some 100 prisoners, many armed with home-made knives, Toranzo said.
N Korea mulling major military drill
Afp, Seoul
North Korea appears to be gearing up for a major military exercise, a report said on Sunday, amid tensions over an expected missile test and South Korea's pullout from a joint industrial complex.
Preparations are under way near the North's western port of Nampo for a combined live-fire drill involving artillery units and air force jets, the South's Yonhap news agency said, citing a Seoul government source.
Angered by new United Nations sanctions over its third nuclear test in February and joint South Korea-US military drills -- due to end on Tuesday -- the North has for weeks been issuing threats of missile strikes and nuclear war.
The expected missile launch has kept Seoul and Washington on heightened alert for the past month, particularly on key dates such as the founding anniversary of the North's military and the birth of its late founding leader.
But Pyongyang, which has a habit of linking high-profile military tests with key dates, celebrated the key dates without the test, fanning speculations that the wait may even take months.
Laden doctor on fast in Pak jail
Ians, Islamabad
Shakil Afridi, the doctor who allegedly worked for the CIA to help track down Osama bin Laden, is on hunger strike at a jail in Pakistan's Peshawar city to protest the jail administration's "ill-treatment".
Afridi, through a fake vaccination campaign, had reportedly provided a lead for the US Navy Seals operation in which the al-Qaeda chief was killed in Abbottabad near Islamabad.
He was arrested for his alleged link to the CIA and also charged with having links to banned religious outfit Lashkar-i-Islam.
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