More Baghdad car bombs

BAGHDAD – Two car bombs exploded in southern Baghdad within a few minutes of each other yesterday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 45 others, Iraqi police said.

Three quarters want Musarraf out * ISLAMABAD – Seventy-five per cent of Pakistanis want President Pervez Musharraf to quit, according to a survey released by the United States-based International Republican Institute yesterday. Jazeera journalist acquitted * CAIRO – A Cairo appeals court yesterday acquitted an Al-Jazeera journalist sentenced to six months over a film that highlighted torture in Egyptian police stations but it still upheld a fine against her.Pause in US pullout? * BAGHDAD – United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday he backed a brief pause in US troop reductions from Iraq once an initial pullout of five combat brigades has been completed in July.Iran nuclear position firm * TEHRAN – Iran will not back down “one iota” in its nuclear dispute with Western powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a huge rally marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution yesterday.Teens jailed for killing father of 3 * LONDON – Three teenagers were sentenced to a total of at least 44 years yesterday for murdering a father-of-three who died in an attack outside his home.Garry Newlove, 47, was set upon after he confronted the group of youths who had vandalised a mechanical digger and another vehicle last August.More bad weather in China * BEIJING – More snowy weather was forecast for parts of China yesterday, threatening to snarl transport at the height of holiday travel and hampering the country’s efforts to return to normality after its worst winter in decades.No EU peacekeepers wanted * N’DJAMENA – Chad’s rebels on Monday urged European Union member states not to send peacekeeping troops to the country’s east, saying the force would not be neutral because it was dominated by France.Art worth billions stolen * ZURICH – Armed robbers have stolen paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet worth more than $91m (N$710m) from a museum in Zurich, police said yesterday.They did not reveal the name of the museum.US marine arrested for rape * TOKYO – A US Marine was arrested on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old Japanese girl on the southern island of Okinawa, police said yesterday, triggering anger from an area where the US military presence is widely resented.Maharishi laid to rest * ALLAHABAD – The embalmed body of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Indian mystic and Beatles’ guru who helped bring transcendental meditation to the West, was cremated yesterday on a huge pyre of sandalwood by India’s holiest river.Jazeera journalist acquitted * CAIRO – A Cairo appeals court yesterday acquitted an Al-Jazeera journalist sentenced to six months over a film that highlighted torture in Egyptian police stations but it still upheld a fine against her. Pause in US pullout? * BAGHDAD – United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday he backed a brief pause in US troop reductions from Iraq once an initial pullout of five combat brigades has been completed in July.Iran nuclear position firm * TEHRAN – Iran will not back down “one iota” in its nuclear dispute with Western powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a huge rally marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution yesterday.Teens jailed for killing father of 3 * LONDON – Three teenagers were sentenced to a total of at least 44 years yesterday for murdering a father-of-three who died in an attack outside his home.Garry Newlove, 47, was set upon after he confronted the group of youths who had vandalised a mechanical digger and another vehicle last August.More bad weather in China * BEIJING – More snowy weather was forecast for parts of China yesterday, threatening to snarl transport at the height of holiday travel and hampering the country’s efforts to return to normality after its worst winter in decades.No EU peacekeepers wanted * N’DJAMENA – Chad’s rebels on Monday urged European Union member states not to send peacekeeping troops to the country’s east, saying the force would not be neutral because it was dominated by France.Art worth billions stolen * ZURICH – Armed robbers have stolen paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet worth more than $91m (N$710m) from a museum in Zurich, police said yesterday.They did not reveal the name of the museum.US marine arrested for rape * TOKYO – A US Marine was arrested on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old Japanese girl on the southern island of Okinawa, police said yesterday, triggering anger from an area where the US military presence is widely resented.Maharishi laid to rest * ALLAHABAD – The embalmed body of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Indian mystic and Beatles’ guru who helped bring transcendental meditation to the West, was cremated yesterday on a huge pyre of sandalwood by India’s holiest river.