News in Brief

Mandela 'still critical' but stable
BBC Online

Nelson Mandela remains critical but stable in a South African hospital, the presidency has said in its latest health update.
The country's first black president, 94, was admitted to hospital with a recurring lung infection on 8 June. People who have seen him say he remains responsive.

5,500 may have died in India floods
Afp, Dehradun

Authorities have raised to 5,500 the estimated number of people who perished in devastating floods that swept the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand last month.
At least 1,000 residents, Hindu pilgrims and tourists have been confirmed killed by the surging waters caused by heavier than normal monsoon rains that washed away homes, hotels, highways and cars.

UK bans Nigeria's Boko Haram
Afp, London

The Nigerian-based Islamist extremist group Boko Haram is to be banned in Britain under anti-terror laws, the British interior ministry announced on Monday.
Some 3,600 people have been killed during Boko Haram's four-year insurgency in north and central Nigeria, according to Human Rights Watch.

Obama urged to review Gitmo policy
Afp, Washington

A US judge Monday rejected a legal bid by a Guantanamo detainee to have his force-feeding blocked, but urged President Barack Obama to review the issue to see if the controversial practice should end.
Authorities at the military prison at the US naval base in southeastern Cuba say they are force-feeding 44 inmates out of an estimated 120 prisoners who are on hunger strike.

China police fire on Tibetans
Afp, Beijing

Chinese police opened fire on Tibetans marking the Dalai Lama's 78th birthday, shooting at least one monk in the head and seriously wounding several other people, two overseas groups said yesterday.
Regional authorities denied the allegations.