W O R L D

Car bombs kill 65 on Iraq’s invasion anniversary
Baghdad, March 19
A wave of bombings tore through Iraq today, killing 65 persons on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion and showing how unstable Iraq remains more than a year after the withdrawal of American troops.

Policemen at the site of a blast in Baghdad's Sadr City on Tuesday. — Reuters

Pope calls for defence of weakest at inaugural mass
Vatican City, March 19
Pope Francis inaugurated his papacy today with an address calling for the defence of the weakest in society and of the environment, saying otherwise, the way was opened to death and destruction.
Pope Francis during his inauguration mass at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Tuesday. — AFP

Pak teen activist Malala goes back to school
London, March 19
Malala Yousufzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting girls' education in her country, today defied her attackers by returning to a school in Britain where she underwent several surgeries.






Malala Yousufzai attends her first day of school in Birmingham on Tuesday. — PTI

US flies B-52 bombers over South Korea
Seoul, March 19
The United States said it was flying training missions of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over South Korea, in a clear signal to North Korea at a time of escalating military tensions.

25 killed in Nigerian bomb explosions
Abuja, March 19
At least 25 persons have been killed in a series of car bomb explosions targeting a bus station in northern Nigeria.

Car bombs kill 65 on Iraq’s invasion anniversary

Baghdad, March 19
A wave of bombings tore through Iraq today, killing 65 persons on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion and showing how unstable Iraq remains more than a year after the withdrawal of American troops.

It was the deadliest day of attacks in Iraq since September 9, when insurgents unleashed an onslaught of bombings and shootings across the country that left 92 dead.

Today's apparently coordinated attacks included car bombs and explosives stuck to the underside of vehicles. They targeted government security forces and mainly Shiite areas, small restaurants, day labourers and bus stops over a span of more than two hours, according to the police and hospital officials.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but they bore hallmarks of the Al-Qaida in Iraq. The terror group, which favours car bombs and coordinated bombings intended to undermine public confidence in the government, has sought to reassert its presence in the recent weeks.

Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shiite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of a civil war in 2006-2007. But insurgents maintain the ability to stage high-profile attacks, while sectarian and ethnic rivalries continue to tear at the fabric of national unity.

The symbolism of today's attacks was strong, coming 10 years to the day, Washington time, that former President George W Bush announced the start of hostilities against Iraq. It was already early March 20, 2003, in Iraq when the airstrikes began. — AP

Pope calls for defence of weakest at inaugural mass

Vatican City, March 19
Pope Francis inaugurated his papacy today with an address calling for the defence of the weakest in society and of the environment, saying otherwise, the way was opened to death and destruction.

Addressing an estimated 2 lakh people and many foreign leaders gathered under bright sunshine in St Peter's Square, the Argentine pope underlined the message that the Church's mission was to defend the poor and disadvantaged.

The Mass on the steps of the giant St Peter's Basilica was simpler than the baroque splendour of his predecessor Benedict's inauguration in 2005. The Church's mission "means respecting each of God's creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about", he said in the homily. — Reuters

Pak teen activist Malala goes back to school

London, March 19
Malala Yousufzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting girls' education in her country, today defied her attackers by returning to a school in Britain where she underwent several surgeries.

"I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school," she said after her first day of classes at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham.

"I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity. I miss my classmates from Pakistan very much but I am looking forward to meeting my teachers and making new friends here in Birmingham," she added.

Malala has joined the girls in Year 9 and will be studying a full curriculum in preparation for selecting her subjects for GCSEs, the school said in a statement.

It also asked the media to "allow her to attend school without intrusion and to respect the privacy of other pupils and parents".

Malala was returning home from school in Pakistan's north-western Swat district on October 9 last year when gunmen stopped her bus and shot her in the head and the chest. The bullet entered just above her left eye, running along her jaw and "grazing" her brain.

Surgeons in Pakistan removed the bullet before she was air-lifted to the UK for life-saving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. The Taliban had said it shot Malala for "promoting secularism", sparking international outrage. — PTI

US flies B-52 bombers over South Korea

A B-52 bomber of the US Air Force flies over Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Tuesday. — Reuters

Seoul, March 19
The United States said it was flying training missions of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over South Korea, in a clear signal to North Korea at a time of escalating military tensions.

The flights -- part of the annual joint South Korea-US military exercises -- should be seen as underscoring US commitment and capacity to defend Seoul against an attack from the North, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

In response to UN sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test last month, North Korea has warned of a "second Korean war" and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the South and the United States.

Little said a B-52 from the Andersen Air Force base in Guam flew over South Korea on March 8 as part of a military exercise. "The B-52 Stratofortress can perform a variety of missions, including carrying precision-guided conventional or nuclear ordnance," he said.— AFP

25 killed in Nigerian bomb explosions

Abuja, March 19
At least 25 persons have been killed in a series of car bomb explosions targeting a bus station in northern Nigeria.

The blasts occurred yesterday at an inter-city bus station in Kano when three suspected suicide bombers came in a Volkswagen Golf car and rammed their vehicle into one of the buses parked there.

Soldiers and the police cordoned off the area immediately after the explosions.

An eyewitness said the explosions occurred mainly in an area called Sabon Gari when some commercial buses were filled with passengers and ready to commence their journey to the southern part of the country.

The eyewitness said he counted about 25 bodies after the blast. Police spokesman for the state of Kano, Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incident but refused to disclose the casualty figure. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Members of Hamas security forces take part in their graduation ceremony in Gaza City on Tuesday. — Reuters

Pak Taliban capture rival militant group’s headquarters
Islamabad: The Pakistani Taliban have captured large tracts of the Tirah Valley in the restive Khyber tribal region of north-west Pakistan after weeks of fierce fighting with the Ansar-ul-Islam, a rival militant group. Militants of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan captured the headquarters of the Ansar-ul-Islam and hoisted their flag on the building in the Bagh area of Tirah valley on Monday, media reports said on Tuesday. — PTI

Teen gets 3 life terms in US shooting
Chardon (Ohio): A teenager was given three lifetime prison sentences without the possibility of parole today for opening fire last year in a high school cafeteria in a rampage that left three students dead and three others wounded. TJ Lane (18) had pleaded guilty last month to shooting at students in February 2012 at Ohio's Chardon High School, east of Cleveland. — PTI

Opposition strike leaves 2 dead in Dhaka
DHaka: At least two members of Bangladesh's ruling Awami League were killed and a train was derailed in violence during the second day of a nationwide strike called by the country's main opposition party. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies enforced the two-day strike to protest the arrest of their leaders and cadres during a recent police raid at its headquarters in the capital Dhaka. — PTI

Skydiver survives 8,000-foot fall
Los Angeles: In a miraculous escape, a seasoned California skydiver survived an 8,000-foot fall with minor injuries and bruises after his parachutes failed and he landed on a patch of soft soil at a vineyard. Craig Stapleton (51), who is a 25-year veteran skydiver with over 7,000 jumps under his belt, was attempting a complex stunt after jumping from about 8,000 feet when both of his parachutes failed and he went into a three-minute spin. — PTI

Pig death toll swells to 15,000 in China
Beijing: The number of dead pigs found floating in Shanghai's waterways is approaching 15,000, but a newspaper has claimed that the government is concealing the true tally. Shanghai city workers retrieved 369 bodies from the Huangpu River on Monday, bringing the municipality's total to 10,164 since the first carcass was found earlier this month. — PTI

Mars rover put on standby, again
Los Angeles: NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has gone on a precautionary 'standby mode' after a software glitch hit the robot over the weekend, scientists say. Curiosity initiated this automated fault-protection action, entering "safe mode" on March 16, while operating on the B-side computer, one of its two main computers that are redundant to each other. — PTI