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/ 25 February 2008
Turkish fighter jets pounded Kurdish rebel positions for the fifth day running on Monday in the mountainous Hakurk region of northern Iraq, security sources said. Members of the Kurdish security force in the autonomous north of Iraq said the raids, which began at about 10pm local time on Sunday, continued overnight in and around Hakurk.
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/ 25 February 2008
Palestinians protesting against an Israeli-led blockade formed a human chain on Monday along roads in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel threatened to use force if they tried to surge into its territory. Hundreds of women and children turned out for the start of what organisers said they hoped would be a peaceful protest.
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/ 25 February 2008
South Africa is to cull elephants for the first time since 1995, lifting a moratorium on the practice to bring ballooning populations under control, the government said on Monday. Since the government introduced a moratorium on culling in 1995, the number of elephants has risen from about 8 000 to over 20 000.
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/ 25 February 2008
The New York Philharmonic arrived in a snowy Pyongyang on Monday to play the symphony From the New World in an overture to thaw still frozen ties from the Cold War era between the United States and North Korea. If well-received, the concert would make a ”tiny contribution” toward bringing the United States and North Korea closer together, said music director, Lorin Maazel
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/ 25 February 2008
World stocks and the dollar rose on Monday as talk of a rescue plan for a United States bond insurer and comments that Qatar is interested in investing in European banks eased concerns about the banking industry. Energy and commodity prices remained firm, with geopolitical concerns in Iran and Turkey lifting oil prices above a barrel.
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/ 25 February 2008
A cyclone that hit Madagascar earlier this month has killed at least 44 people and left nearly 145 000 homeless, according to updated figures released by authorities on Sunday. The numbers are almost twice estimates released on Friday of 29 people dead and 70 000 homeless from the category-three cyclone.
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/ 25 February 2008
Zimbabwean presidential hopeful Simba Makoni said on Monday he would not form a coalition with the main opposition party because it would alienate dissenters in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party. ”There are a large number of people in Zanu-PF who share my proper vision,” Makoni said in an interview.
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/ 25 February 2008
African and international civil society organisations have urged the rest of the world to redouble its efforts to stop the European Union’s drive to institute economic partnership agreements (EPAs). The call for action was drawn up during a special review meeting of the Africa Trade Network in Cape Town from February 20 to 22.
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/ 25 February 2008
New Zealand opening batsman Jesse Ryder abused hospital staff while receiving treatment for a cut hand suffered in a barroom incident early on Sunday morning, New Zealand Cricket said. Ryder, who will be sidelined by his injury for three months, will write letters of apology to hospital staff, a bar owner and New Zealand teammates.
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/ 25 February 2008
West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect due to an illegal action, the International Cricket Council said on Monday. The Jamaican, an occasional off-spinner, was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during the third Test match between South Africa and West Indies.