News in Brief

5 soldiers killed in Libya clashes
Afp, Benghazi

Clashes between Libyan elite forces and gunmen yesterday killed five soldiers in Benghazi, the army said, in the latest bout of unrest.
Benghazi, the cradle of the uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, has become increasingly marred by clashes between militias made up of former rebels who fought the late dictator's forces and the still infant regular forces of the new authorities.

Italy rescues 159 boat migrants
Afp, Rome

The Italian coast guard has rescued 159 Syrian, Afghan and Egyptian migrants from a boat in the sea off Calabria, including a newborn baby and seven children, Italian media said yesterday.
The alarm was sounded just before midnight on Friday after a boat, which is believed to have set off from Turkey a few days ago, was reported to be in trouble off the coast near Roccella Jonica in southern Italy.

UN peacekeeper killed in Sudan
Afp, Khartoum

Shells hit a United Nations base in Sudan's troubled South Kordofan state on Friday killing one Ethiopian peacekeeper and wounding two others, officials said.
Residents suspect stray fire hit the base and that anti-government rebels had targeted a football stadium to be used for a regional tournament starting on Tuesday.
A UN Security Council statement "condemned in the strongest terms" the attack and called on the Sudanese government to "bring the perpetrators to justice."