In Brief

World Cup helps beer consumption BERLIN – The World Cup soccer tournament helped German beer consumption rise by 1,4 per cent in 2006, the strongest increase in 12 years, the federal statistics office said yesterday.

Thirsty Germans were joined by soccer fans from 31 countries for the month-long tournament and consumed 107 million hectolitres of beer – the rough liquid equivalent of 140 million five-minute showers. In 2005, beer sales dropped by 0, 5 per cent, a worrisome development for the brewers in the nation that fancies itself as a beer-drinking mecca.Young people, in particular, have turned away from the national beverage in recent years, brewers said.* Islamists threaten Yemeni Jews for selling wine SANAA – Nearly a quarter Yemen’s Jews have fled their village and sought refuge at a hotel in the Arab country after militant Islamists threatened to kill them for selling alcohol, a government official said yesterday.The official, who asked not to be named, said authorities had deployed policemen around the hotel to protect the Jews, numbering at least 45, after they escaped the village of Al Salem in the northern province of Saada two weeks ago.Just 200 Jews live in Yemen after thousands were evacuated to Israel in 1948.”The Shi’ite militants of (Abdel-Malik) al-Houthi sent threats to them (Jews) because they sell wine,” the official told Reuters.The Jewish community denied they sold wine.Islam forbids the sale or drinking of alcohol.* Nepal Maoists swap guns for grins SHAKTIKHOR – Nepal’s Maoist revolt may have ended but the young cadres in green uniform with red ‘People’s Liberation Army’ badges protecting a large camp of former rebels still flag down passing vehicles for security checks.Welcome to Shaktikhor, home to hundreds of former guerrillas living in tarpaulin and plastic shelters who are a central part of a disarmament process aimed at ending a decade-old civil war in which over 13 000 people have died.Shaktikhor in central Nepal is the first of seven sites where Maoists have completed locking up arms in containers for UN monitoring, part of a November peace pact between the government and rebels.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-APIn 2005, beer sales dropped by 0, 5 per cent, a worrisome development for the brewers in the nation that fancies itself as a beer-drinking mecca.Young people, in particular, have turned away from the national beverage in recent years, brewers said.* Islamists threaten Yemeni Jews for selling wine SANAA – Nearly a quarter Yemen’s Jews have fled their village and sought refuge at a hotel in the Arab country after militant Islamists threatened to kill them for selling alcohol, a government official said yesterday.The official, who asked not to be named, said authorities had deployed policemen around the hotel to protect the Jews, numbering at least 45, after they escaped the village of Al Salem in the northern province of Saada two weeks ago.Just 200 Jews live in Yemen after thousands were evacuated to Israel in 1948.”The Shi’ite militants of (Abdel-Malik) al-Houthi sent threats to them (Jews) because they sell wine,” the official told Reuters.The Jewish community denied they sold wine.Islam forbids the sale or drinking of alcohol. * Nepal Maoists swap guns for grins SHAKTIKHOR – Nepal’s Maoist revolt may have ended but the young cadres in green uniform with red ‘People’s Liberation Army’ badges protecting a large camp of former rebels still flag down passing vehicles for security checks.Welcome to Shaktikhor, home to hundreds of former guerrillas living in tarpaulin and plastic shelters who are a central part of a disarmament process aimed at ending a decade-old civil war in which over 13 000 people have died.Shaktikhor in central Nepal is the first of seven sites where Maoists have completed locking up arms in containers for UN monitoring, part of a November peace pact between the government and rebels.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-AP