News in Brief

Suicide bomber kills 25 at Baghdad park
Afp, Baghdad

A suicide bomber killed at least 25 people in Baghdad on Friday while seven died in other attacks, as security forces seek to stem spiralling violence with wide-ranging anti-insurgent operations.
Friday's violence struck across the country -- in Baghdad and to its north and south -- with gun and bomb attacks hitting both Shiite and Sunni areas.

Mandela 'unstable' but 'resilient'
Afp, Johannesburg

Nelson Mandela is "unstable" at times but has shown "great resilience" as he remains in a critical condition in hospital, South Africa's presidency said yesterday.
"While at times his condition becomes unstable, the doctors indicate that the former president has demonstrated great resilience and his condition tends to stabilise as a result of medical interventions," a statement said.

Colombia peace talks suspended
Reuters, Bogota

Colombia's government and Marxist FARC rebels suspended their participation in peace talks in Cuba on Friday, complicating nine months of painstaking negotiations aimed at ending five decades of bloodshed.
President Juan Manuel Santos called his negotiating team home from Havana hours after the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, said it would "pause" the talks to review a government plan to put any peace deal to a popular vote.

Refinery fire kills four in India 
Afp, Hyderabad

A massive fire broke out Friday at a petroleum refinery in southern India, killing four workers and leaving dozens injured, police said.
Another 11 people were feared trapped at the Hindustan Petroleum Corp refinery in Visakhapatnam, a port city 503 kilometres (313 miles) from Andhra Pradesh state capital Hyderabad, officials added. Residents in the vicinity of the refinery have been evacuated as a precaution, police said.

Cybercrime hits 9m UK web users
The Guardian Online

More than 9 million adults in Britain have had online accounts hacked and 8% of the population say they have lost money in the past year because of cybercrime, according to a survey by university researchers.