News in Brief

Gunmen torch Nato trucks in Pakistan

Afp, Quetta
Gunmen in Pakistan yesterday set ablaze five trucks carrying Nato equipment out of Afghanistan as the international military alliance winds down its combat mission there, officials said.
Four masked gunmen on two motorbikes opened fire at the vehicles, forcing them to stop and then doused them in petrol to set them on fire in the southwestern province Baluchistan.

Suicide truck bomb kills 9 in Iraq

Afp, Baghdad
A suicide truck bomber killed nine people at a police headquarters yesterday as data showed March was Iraq's deadliest month since August, raising fears of a surge in violence leading up to elections.
The latest attack, in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, comes as Iraq marks 10 years since the US-led invasion of the country that intended to oust Saddam and install a stable, democratic ally in the Middle East but instead unleashed brutal violence and endless political disputes.

Mandela is improving

Afp, Johannesburg
Nelson Mandela's condition has improved further, the South African government said as the ailing anti-apartheid icon spent his fifth day in hospital yesterday receiving treatment for a recurrence of pneumonia.
Doctors "have reported a further improvement in his condition," President Jacob Zuma's office said in a statement late Sunday.

11 killed in flash floods in Mauritius

Ap, Port Louis
Officials say flash floods blamed on climate change killed at least 11 people in the capital of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.
Officials said most drowned in rivers of water that rose swiftly Saturday in a pedestrian underpass and an underground car park.
Torrential downpours slammed Port Louis. The meteorological office reported 152mm (6 inches) of rain fell in less than an hour. It warned there could be more storms.
Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam declared Monday a day of mourning. On national radio Sunday he blamed climate change for the floods.
He said there also was heavy property damage.
National TV showed people clinging to each other as they waded through hip-high water in a central street. L'Express newspaper showed cars floating away.