Government forces used attack helicopters, tanks and heavy weapons Thursday to beat back rebels who charged 600 miles in pickup trucks from the Darfur border to reach the capital of this volatile, oil-producing nation in the center of Africa. The assault outside N’djamena underscored concerns that the civil war in Darfur, part of western Sudan, has undermined Chad President Idriss Deby’s authority and destabilized the entire region. It also showed how little control Deby wields in the countryside, where rebels cruise the desert at will.
India: Actor’s fans stage deadly riot
Thousands of distraught fans smashed cars, burned buses and battled with police Thursday in Bangalore, angry that they had been prevented from viewing the body of south Indian film icon Raj Kumar. He died Wednesday of cardiac arrest in a Bangalore hospital. Kumar appeared in more than 200 Kannada-language films over five decades, becoming one of the most famous faces in south India, and with millions of fiercely devoted fans. Angry fans tried to storm a stadium where the 77-year-old actor’s body was on view. Local media reports said two people died.
From Herald news services
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