World Briefs

Landmines kill 81 in Yemen
SANAA – Yemeni military officials say landmines laid by al Qaeda fighters have killed eight people in the past three days near the former militant stronghold of Zinjibar in the country’s south.

This brings the total number of mine deaths since the town fell to a military offensive two weeks ago to 81.The officials also said six bodies were found on Saturday outside Zinjibar and five more inside a well on Friday. They say the identities of the 11 have not yet been established.The officials say engineering teams have removed at least 3 000 landmines from the area. They spoke on condition of anonymity according to regulations.13 die in US stormsWASHINGTON – Millions across the mid-Atlantic region sweltered on Saturday in the aftermath of violent storms that pummelled the eastern US with high winds and downed trees, killing at least 13 people and leaving three million without power during a heat wave.Power officials said the outages wouldn’t be repaired for several days to a week, likening the damage to a serious hurricane. Emergencies were declared in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, the District of Columbia and Virginia, where Governor Bob McDonnell said the state had its largest non-hurricane outage in history, as more storms threatened. ‘This is a very dangerous situation,’ the governor said.US fire under controlCOLORADO SPRINGS – Firefighters said on Saturday they have contained 45 per cent of a deadly blaze that has left hundreds homeless in Colorado, as President Barack Obama again hailed their efforts.Obama used his weekly radio address to urge Americans to support emergency workers like those tackling the week-old Waldo Canyon blaze, which has killed two people and destroyed 347 homes in the state’s second largest city.’It’s important that we remember what they do each and every single day, and that we continue to provide support to our first responders, our emergency management folks, our firefighters, our military,’ said Obama, a day after visting the devastated area around Colorado Springs himself.On the ground, fire incident commander Rich Harvey said the degree of fire containment had risen to 45 per cent, from 30 per cent overnight, while warning that conditions remain difficult.Former Israeli Prime Minister diesJERUSALEM – Former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, a former soldier, spy and statesman, has died at the age of 96, Israeli officials announced on Saturday.’Yitzhak Shamir has left us,’ current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.Netanyahu ‘expresses his deep pain over the announcement of the departure of Yitzhak Shamir. He was part of a marvellous generation which created the state of Israel and struggled for the Jewish people,’ it said.As head of the right-wing Likud bloc, which Netanyahu now leads, he served as premier from 1983 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1992. Shamir had withdrawn from public life since the mid-1990s, silenced by Alzheimer’s disease.