Bomb threat: Eiffel Tower evacuated
Paris: The Eiffel Tower was evacuated on late Saturday after an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat, police said. Nearly 1,400 people were sent away from the tourist attraction following a request from tower operators after the warning, a Paris police official said.
Mandela still in hospital on Easter
Johannesburg: Former South African President Nelson Mandela remained in a hospital on Easter Sunday while receiving treatment for a recurrence of pneumonia, the Government said. South African presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said there are no updates on 94-year-old Mandela since an official statement Saturday on his condition.
Five siblings die in French house fire
Paris: Authorities say five young siblings have died after a fire erupted in a home in northern France. Rescue team official Thierry Oberlin told France-2 TV Sunday that the children’s father escaped the inferno late Saturday in the town of Saint Quentin, about 150 kilometers north of Paris.
explosions kill
four in Baghdad
Baghdad: Iraqi officials say two separate blasts in Baghdad have killed four people and wounded 14. Two police officers say a bomb attached to a policeman's car exploded early on Sunday in the capital's northern Kazimiyah neighborhood, killing an officer and a bystander and wounding five others. Two other police officers said a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden
car into an army checkpoint in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib few hours later, killing two soldiers and wounding nine people, of which four were civilians.
Egyptian satirist
freed on bail
Cairo: Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef was released on bail on Sunday after nearly five hours of questioning over alleged insults to President Mohamed Morsi and to religion. Youssef was ordered to pay around $2,200 pending investigation into the complaints, judicial sources said. On Twitter, Youssef confirmed the bail conditions, saying they were
for three lawsuits, adding no date has been set for questioning into a fourth legal complaint.
two killed, six hurt
in Pakistan blast
Islamabad: Two persons were killed and six others, including a former provincial legislator, injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan’s restive northwest on Sunday, police said.
New strain of bird flu kills 2 in China
Beijing: Two men from Shanghai have died after contracting the lesser-known H7N9 strain of avian influenza, while a third patient is in a critical condition, the Chinese government said.
Kenya on alert after court’s ruling
Nairobi: Kenyan police beefed up security on Sunday after a court decision upholding Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential vote win drew his rival’s supporters into the streets, sparking riots that left two dead.
Indonesia Prez takes reins of crisis-hit party
Jakarta: Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took full control of ruling Democratic Party on Sunday in a bid to salvage its tumbling popularity ahead of elections in 2014.