News In Brief

Britons become less religious: survey
Afp, London

The number of Britons who are religious has declined significantly in the last 30 years and the number of adherents to the established Church of England has halved, a survey revealed on Tuesday.
Just 52 percent of people said they belong to a religion, down from 68 percent in 1983, according to the latest British Social Attitudes survey, which has been conducted every year for the last three decades.

Iran bus collision kills 44
Afp, Tehran

A collision between two buses in Iran killed 44 people and injured 39 others, the ISNA news agency reported yesterday, in the country's most serious road accident in years.
The accident took place late on Monday along the highway between Qom and Tehran.
Iran's roads were among the most dangerous in the world a few years ago. In the 1990s, there were around 28,000 deaths per year for the country's four million cars.

Spate of Iraq attacks kills 16
Afp, Baghdad

Attacks in central Iraq killed 16 people yesterday, including six shot dead when gunmen stormed a house where a corpse was being ritually washed ahead of a funeral.
The violence, in restive Diyala province and an area known as the "Triangle of Death", is the latest in a surge in unrest that has left more than 4,000 people dead so far this year.

Dozens of bushfires flare in Australia
Afp, Sydney

Dozens of bushfires erupted in Australia yesterday with six firefighters injured battling fierce infernos in western Sydney that destroyed two homes and which officials said could signal a difficult summer.
Some 60 fires flared in the country's most populous state of New South Wales, aided by temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and gusting winds, with water-bombing helicopters being used to tackle the danger.

Iraq attacks kills 20
Afp, Baghdad

Attacks in central Iraq killed 20 people yesterday, including six shot dead when gunmen stormed a house where a corpse was being ritually washed ahead of a funeral.
The violence, in restive Diyala province and an area known as the "Triangle of Death", is the latest in a surge in unrest that has left more than 4,000 people dead so far this year.

Sushmita murder: Afghan cops nab 2
Afp, Kabul

Afghan police have arrested two militants over the murder of an Indian writer , an official said yesterday.
Sushmita Banerjee, 49, was dragged out of her husband's house by masked gunmen in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province and shot dead last Wednesday.