News in Brief

Indian forces kill 14 Maoist rebels
Afp, Bhubaneswar

Security forces killed 14 Maoists in a firefight in eastern India yesterday, police said, marking the latest bloodshed in a long conflict in which the rebels have been battling to overthrow the government.
It was the single biggest rebel death toll in Orissa state from one incident and came amid an intense anti-Maoist campaign in the area conducted over the past month, police said.

 
Suicide blast kills 21 at Iraq funeral
Reuters, Mosul

A suicide bomber killed at least 21 people at the funeral of a member of Iraq's Shabak minority in the northern province of Nineveh yesterday, security and medical sources said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but Sunni Islamist militants have in the past targeted Shabaks, who are predominantly Shia, warning them to leave the area.

Philippine  standoff nears end
Afp, Zamboanga

Philippine troops were clearing out the last remaining Muslim Moro rebels after a six-day operation in the south that killed dozens of militants and allowed scores of hostages to flee, officials said yesterday.
His comments boosted hopes that the crisis, which had left entire neighbourhoods razed to the ground by the gunmen and forced tens of thousands of residents to flee, would soon be resolved.

Afghan US consulate attack toll hits 4
Afp, Washington

At least four Afghans were killed Friday in a Taliban suicide attack on the US consulate in the Afghan city of Herat, the State Department said Friday.
There were no US casualties in the attack on Herat, it added. At least three Afghan guards and one interpreter were killed in the attack. Earlier, Afghan officials had said one guard was dead and 18 other people wounded.

Anti-govt protest gears up in Poland
Afp, Warsaw

Tens of thousands of Polish trade unionists kicked off a march through the capital yesterday in the finale of a four-day protest against the unpopular and increasingly fragile centre-right government.
The protest reflects widespread public gloom over this year's sharp economic slowdown in Poland, which has been dragged down by the eurozone crisis. The disillusionment has plunged the coalition government's popularity to its lowest level since Prime Minister Donald Tusk took office in 2007.