The death toll from an attack by a suicide bomber driving a fuel truck packed with explosives in western Baghdad on Wednesday rose to 50 people, police said. Another 60 were wounded in the attack in the Mansour district. Police said the bomber lured motorists queueing for petrol to his truck.
China blamed global warming on Wednesday for this year’s weather extremes, which have led to more than 700 deaths from flooding and left millions of others without water. Such extremes are likely to get worse and more common in the future, said Song Lianchun, head of the China Meteorological Administration’s department of forecasting services.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he would send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive. Obama warned Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country.
More than 28-million young people met up, camped out and renewed a vow to do their best at sunrise across the globe on Wednesday as the Scouts celebrated their 100th anniversary. As part of the festivities, 40Â 000 young people have gathered in southern England to take part in the 12-day world Scout Jamboree.
Gold Fields, the world’s fourth biggest gold producer, is planning to issue a long-term bond in South Africa to refinance debt within 12 months, an official said on Wednesday. ”I would like to refinance a sizeable chunk of our existing debt,” chief financial officer Nick Holland told journalists following a results presentation.
France has agreed to sell anti-tank missiles to Libya as part of a broader military agreement, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi was quoted as saying on Wednesday. ”You know this is the first arms supply deal between Libya and a Western country,” Saif al-Islam said, adding he expected more to be signed shortly.
A looming report on Iraq will show ”significant progress” in the war, the United States vice-president Dick Cheney predicted on Tuesday night. The evaluation is expected to shape the administration’s next move in the war, including decisions on how many US troops will stay in Iraq and for how long.
Paper producer Mondi said on Wednesday its first-half underlying operating profit rose 46% and expected continued pressure from higher input costs and a weak United States dollar. Mondi, spun off from mining group Anglo American in July, reported half-year underlying operating profit of €243-million.
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