News in Brief

Cameron inks $1b deals with Kazakhstan
Afp, Astana

British Prime Minister David Cameron signed a strategic cooperation agreement as well as $1.0 billion in deals with Kazakhstan yesterday during his first visit to the energy-rich ex-Soviet state.
Cameron and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev also unveiled an oil and gas processing plant on the shores of the Caspian Sea which is intended to provide a new reliable source of energy for European countries.
The British premier played up the importance of Kazakhstan to regional security as he wound down a swing through the region that included visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

New Aussie PM reshuffles cabinet
Afp, Canberra

Australia's new cabinet was sworn in yesterday with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd naming a record number of six women and switching focus to the economy ahead of upcoming elections.
With Labor trailing badly in the polls Rudd ruthlessly seized the leadership on Wednesday, ousting the country's first woman prime minister Julia Gillard three years after she had overthrown him.
The Labor Party, which is counting on Rudd's vaunted campaigning skills, has seen an immediate bounce in popularity.

Cop, rebel killed in Indian Kashmir
Afp, Srinagar

A policeman and a rebel were killed in Indian Kashmir yesterday as the troubled region shut down to protest at the weekend shooting of two civilians by the army, a police chief said.
The officer and the militant were killed during a gun battle in the southern village of Mandoora, 35 kilometres south of the main city of Srinagar, said Kashmir's police chief Abdul Gani Mir.
The incident followed calls by a separatist group for a strike in the region to protest at the weekend shootings. Shops and other businesses, along with schools, were closed and traffic was thin on the streets of Srinagar.

Over 2,500 killed in 3 months Iraq violence

Afp, Baghdad

More than 2,500 people were killed in Iraq in the past three months, UN figures showed yesterday, a surge of violence that has fanned fears the politically-deadlocked country is slipping back into all-out bloodshed.
The toll comes as the country grapples with months of protests by the Sunni Arab minority, tensions along a swathe of disputed territory in north Iraq and a protracted political standoff that has left key pieces of legislation unresolved.
The violence showed no signs of letting up on Monday as a new attack left eight former anti-al-Qaeda fighters dead.
The UN mission in Iraq said a total of 761 people were killed across the country in June, bringing the overall death toll for the past three months to 2,518.

Overworked elephant dies in Mumbai
Afp, Mumbai

An overworked and overweight elephant in Mumbai whose plight illustrated the mistreatment of the animals as street performers has died after fighting for her life for weeks, vets said yesterday.
The 58-year-old named Bijlee died on Sunday from complications relating to old age, degeneration of leg muscles and arthritis, JC Khanna, secretary of the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told AFP.
Bijlee, whose name means lightning, had sparked anguish amongst animal activists and Bollywood stars after she was found lying in pain earlier this month in the city's northeastern suburbs, unable to walk after decades of neglect and overwork.