Taliban kill around 30 after stopping bus

KANDAHAR – Taliban militants stopped a bus travelling on Afghanistan’s main highway through a wild and dangerous part of the country’s south, captured some 50 people on board and slaughtered around 30 of them, officials said yesterday.

Israel considering Saudi peace plan * JERUSALEM – Israeli leaders are seriously considering a dormant Saudi plan offering a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for lands captured during the 1967 war, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said yesterday. Somali pirates get ransom, release Thai ship * MOGADISHU – It’s been a busy, profitable week for Somali pirates: They hijacked one South Korean bulk carrier on Wednesday, released another South Korean cargo ship on Thursday and let a hijacked Thai ship go on Saturday after getting a ransom.Nine Chinese oil workers kidnapped in Sudan * KHARTOUM – Nine Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped near Sudan’s disputed central oil district of Abyei, the Chinese embassy said yesterday, with a Sudanese driver also feared missing.Classes stop after Algeria university killing * ALGIERS – Staff and students at a university in northwest Algeria suspended classes yesterday to protest the murder of a lecturer who was stabbed to death by one of his pupils.Shiite party wants amendments in US-Iraq pact * BAGHDAD – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s ruling Shiite alliance said yesterday that parts of the draft security agreement that would keep US troops here for three more years needs more discussion and amendments before it can be approved.Obama raises record $150m * DUNN – US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised more than $150m for his campaign in September, breaking the record he set the previous month, his campaign said yesterday.SA crime crackdown nets 250 * JOHANNESBURG – Police have arrested 245 people in Soweto for various cases which included murder, rape, possession of unlicenced firearms, stolen vehicles and malicious damage to property, Gauteng police said on Sunday.Somali pirates get ransom, release Thai ship * MOGADISHU – It’s been a busy, profitable week for Somali pirates: They hijacked one South Korean bulk carrier on Wednesday, released another South Korean cargo ship on Thursday and let a hijacked Thai ship go on Saturday after getting a ransom.Nine Chinese oil workers kidnapped in Sudan * KHARTOUM – Nine Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped near Sudan’s disputed central oil district of Abyei, the Chinese embassy said yesterday, with a Sudanese driver also feared missing.Classes stop after Algeria university killing * ALGIERS – Staff and students at a university in northwest Algeria suspended classes yesterday to protest the murder of a lecturer who was stabbed to death by one of his pupils.Shiite party wants amendments in US-Iraq pact * BAGHDAD – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s ruling Shiite alliance said yesterday that parts of the draft security agreement that would keep US troops here for three more years needs more discussion and amendments before it can be approved.Obama raises record $150m * DUNN – US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised more than $150m for his campaign in September, breaking the record he set the previous month, his campaign said yesterday. SA crime crackdown nets 250 * JOHANNESBURG – Police have arrested 245 people in Soweto for various cases which included murder, rape, possession of unlicenced firearms, stolen vehicles and malicious damage to property, Gauteng police said on Sunday.