International Briefs

Car bomb kills 4 in northern Iraq

* BAGHDAD – A parked car bomb killed four policemen and wounded three people in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday, the latest in a string of recent attacks in a city United States officials describe as al Qaeda’s last major urban stronghold in the country.

Army creates ‘safe zone’ in Sri Lankan war * COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s army disbanded the mostly ineffective ‘safe zone’ it had established in the war-wracked north and set up a new refuge yesterday for the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped.Troops throng Kabul after Taliban attacks* KABUL – Heavily armed government troops thronged the streets of Afghanistan’s capital yesterday, stepping up security before the arrival of the new US envoy a day after Taliban attacks showed how easily the city’s defences can be breached.12 arrests in Nigeria tainted formula case * ABUJA – Authorities have arrested 12 people in a tainted teething formula case in Nigeria that killed 84 children after they swallowed a syrup laced with a chemical normally found in antifreeze, health officials said on Wednesday.Africanised bees found in Utah* SALT LAKE CITY – Africanised honey bees have been found for the first time in the Beehive State. The bees, long the subject of lore as ‘killer bees,’ were recently discovered in Utah’s Washington and Kane counties, the state Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.Queen revamps royal website * LONDON – The Queen relaunched the monarchy’s website yesterday with the help of World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee. The royal.gov.uk site has been revamped to make it easier to use and now features new technology, including audio and video footage and interactive maps.