News in Brief

Iraq blasts kill 44
Afp, Baghdad

Eleven car bombs exploded in Baghdad province on Thursday, killing at least 44 people and wounding more than 120 others, Iraqi security and medical officials said. With the latest attack, more than 390 people have been killed so far this month, and over 5,100 since the start of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
Bushfires rage in Australia
Afp, Winmalee

Residents faced scenes of devastation yesterday after bushfires ravaged communities and destroyed "hundreds" of homes in southeastern Australia, leaving one man dead with dozens of blazes still out of control.
Wildfires are common in Australia's summer months between December and February, and authorities are expecting a rough season this year due to low rainfall in the winter and forecasts of hot, dry weather ahead.

Abbas invites pope to Middle East
Afp, Vatican City

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas during a Vatican audience on Thursday invited Pope Francis to the Middle East, saying he would "walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ".
Abbas gave the pope a ceramic panel with a view of Bethlehem and a Bible as gifts, while Francis gave him a decorative pen with which Abbas said he hoped to sign a peace agreement with Israel.
"Soon, soon," the pope responded.

Philippines airport 'world's worst'
Afp, Manila

The Philippines' main Manila airport terminal has been named the world's worst for the second year in a row in a survey by an online travel website.
Reviews for Manila's Terminal 1 posted on the site mentioned "dilapidated facilities", dishonest airport workers -- particularly taxi drivers -- long waiting times and rude officials.
The terminal at the Italian airport of Bergamo was named the second. Its third-worst was Calcutta, just edging out Islamabad, ahead of Paris Beauvais.

'Tymoshenko free to go abroad'
Afp, Donetsk

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych announced for the first time Thursday he was ready to allow jailed rival Yulia Tymoshenko to go abroad for medical treatment, as Kiev seeks to remove the key obstacle on the path to a deal with the European Union.
EU leaders have made clear that Ukraine will only be able to sign an Association Agreement -- the first step to eventual EU membership -- at a summit in Vilnius in late November if Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, is released.

Top Putin foe's sentence suspended
Afp, Moscow

Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny on Thursday returned to Moscow a free man after a court in the northern Kirov region suspended his five-year penal colony sentence in a controversial fraud case.
The outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin has coined the slogan "Putin is a thief" and roused crowds at opposition rallies. The Kirov case was just the first to go to court of a number of criminal probes against him.