1 June 2006 Edition

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International In Brief

Palestine

Three Palestinians were killed after they attempted to dismantle unexploded Israeli shells found outside their homes, according to relatives. One of the shells went off when it was taken into the house, destroying the basement and killing the three teenagers. Five other people were wounded in the explosion in Beit Lahiya.

Colombia

Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe has been re-elected with 62% of the vote, the country's electoral commission has announced. Uribe, who changed the constitution so he could run for a second term, wins another four years in office. There was no major violence on election day, after huge numbers of security forces were deployed, and Farc rebels pledged not to interfere.

Burma

Government officials announced that Burma's military rulers have extended the detention under house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, after her latest period under house arrest expired on Saturday 27 May. Aung San Suu Kyi has been held since May 2003, and has spent 10 of the last 16 years under house arrest.

US in Iraq

Official accounts from the Iraqi city of Haditha in November said 15 people were killed by a bomb and fire fight. However further reports have said that as many as 24 people may have died, including eleven women and children, and that murder charges may be in preparation against US soldiers involved.

Somalia unrest

Clashes between militias in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, have left 13 people dead, days after some of the heaviest fighting seen in the city for years. On Thursday 25 May, gun battles killed least 60 people, left scores injured and forced hundreds out of their homes. So far, some 200 people have died in clashes between militias loyal to Mogadishu's Islamic courts and an alliance of warlords this year in the worst fighting the city has seen for more than a decade. Somalia has had no fully functioning government since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991.


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