News in Brief

Germany hands Kunduz camp to Afghans
Afp, Kunduz
Germany yesterday handed over command of its northern Kunduz camp to Afghan security forces, a milestone in the drawdown from a more than decade-long military deployment.
About 100,000 German troops have served in Afghanistan since 2002, and 54 have died there -- 35 of them in combat -- in Germany's deadliest post-World War II deployment.
International forces are due to end major combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, although Germany and others have pledged to continue a training and support mission beyond then.

Head trauma puts Kirchner on rest
Afp, Buenos Aires
Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner, 60, has been ordered to rest for a month after doctors found a brain hemorrhage linked to an August incident, her spokesman said Saturday.
The official said that Argentina's first democratically-elected female leader was not ordered to be on total rest. He did not indicate whether Vice President Amado Boudou would take over any of her duties during her recover.

Ireland rejects PM's plan to scrap senate
Afp, Dublin
Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny vowed to push forward with reform of the upper house of parliament after voters rejected his plan to abolish the senate to save the bailed-out eurozone nation money.
In a surprise blow for Kenny after he personally led the campaign to ditch the senate, voters in a referendum on Friday narrowly opted to keep the 60-member house, according to results announced late Saturday.

Egypt frees two detained Canadians
Afp, Ottawa
Egyptian authorities have released two Canadians who had been held without charge in a crowded, cockroach-infested prison cell in Cairo since mid-August, Canadian officials said yesterday.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the release of John Greyson, a Toronto filmmaker and university professor, and Tarek Loubani, an emergency room doctor from London, Ontario.
They were arrested in Cairo on August 16 amid bloody clashes between security forces and Islamists that killed dozens of people