Pak launches Taliban crackdown

Islamabad, July 16: Pakistani security forces on Wednesday attacked with artillery Taliban positions in the curfew-bound northwestern Hangu district injuring at least 12 people, days after 16 paramilitary personnel were killed by the militants in the troubled region. The Army targeted militant positions in Zargari and nearby villages in Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) leading to injuries to 12 people while 20 houses were damaged. —PTI

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Russia: Czar son remains identified

Moscow, July 16: Russian prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday that remains found last year belong to Czar Nicholas II’s only son and his daughter who were murdered exactly 90 years ago by the Bolsheviks.

The prosecutor-general’s main investigative unit said DNA samples and an analysis of the teeth showed that the remains, found near the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, were those of Czar Nicholas II’s 13-year-old heir Prince Alexei and daughter Maria.

—Reuters

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UK council workers on 48-hr strike

By OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT

London

July 16: Council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Wednesday started a 48-hour strike in a bitter row over pay.

The strike has led schools, libraries and sports centres to close down due to lack of staff and has also led to severe disruptions in refuse collections, street cleaning and other services.

More than 600,000 local government workers, represented by Unison, walked out to protest against a 2.45 per cent pay hike offer.

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Libel damages for Madeleine case suspect

By OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT

London

July 16: Briton Robert Murat, who lives at Praia de Luz, the Portuguese resort from where Madeleine McCann disappeared last year, will be paid libel damages by eight British newspapers. The Portuguese police had made Mr Murat a formal suspect, or arguido, less than two weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance. Mr Murat has always insisted that he was innocent. In April, Mr Murat’s lawyers had named the Sun, the Daily Express, Sunday Express, etc.

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Level crossing accident kills 40 in Egypt

Cairo, July 16: At least 40 people were killed and 60 injured on Wednesday when a truck failed to stop at a level crossing and pushed waiting traffic into the path of a speeding train in northern Egypt, the police said.

The truck ploughed into traffic at the level crossing, including a bus and at least four other vehicles, pushing them into the path of the passenger train.

Two train carriages overturned and another two were derailed, a police official said, requesting anonymity.

—AFP