Greece: Grenade hit U.S. embassy
Police blamed a rocket-propelled grenade for an explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Athens on Friday, which caused limited damage and no injuries. The shoulder-fired missile narrowly missed a large blue-and-white U.S. seal on the embassy’s facade and damaged a third-floor bathroom near the ambassador’s office. Greek authorities blamed domestic militant groups that have carried out a bombings against police and government buildings despite a crackdown on terrorism before the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Indonesia: Two bird flu victims die
Two more Indonesian women have died from bird flu, a health official said Saturday, pushing the toll this week to four in the latest cases to strike the country worst hit by the virus. One of the latest victims was a 22-year-old from Tangerang near Jakarta where a 37-year-old woman and a teenage boy who died earlier in the week also came from. One of the women died late Friday while the 22-year-old died early today, a Ministry of Health official said. Both had been treated in the same hospital in Jakarta, the capital.
Saudi Arabia: Crash kills pilgrims
Two buses collided near Saudi Arabia’s border with the United Arab Emirates on Friday, killing 22 people and injuring 24 others leaving the kingdom after participating in this year’s Islamic hajj pilgrimage, the state news agency said. The casualties included pilgrims from Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan, the Saudi Press Agency said. The accident occurred early Friday, when the two buses collided head on, four miles from the al-Bathaa border crossing with the Emirates in eastern Saudi Arabia, the agency said.
Austria: Teen voting gets support
Austria’s new coalition government says 16-year-olds – who can already vote in some local races – should also be allowed to cast ballots in national elections. One study, carried out by the Vienna-based SORA Institute after local elections in October 2005, showed 59 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds cast a ballot. That turnout was about the same as other age groups, a SORA official said, adding that lowering the voting age to 16 – or even 14 – could help counterbalance the views of an increasingly aging population, a common phenomenon across Europe.
From Herald news services
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