World

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – A cow which was not in the mood ambled to the top storey of a Siberian apartment building to escape a bull which was, and had to be led back down by firefighters, authorities said.

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) – Iran has offered support to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The American composer who wrote the scores for dozens of movies and a half-dozen or so Broadway shows and won Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize, Marvin Hamlisch has died in Los Angeles.

MUMBAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Offshoring of back-office work to India, a trend among banks and accounting firms, came under new scrutiny with allegations that Standard Chartered Plc moved compliance oversight work dealing with Iranian banking transactions to India to avoid US regulators.

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (Reuters) – The Cayman Islands has dropped plans to impose an income tax on foreign workers nearly two weeks after proposing it in a last-ditch effort to overcome budget woes.

DENVER (Reuters) – The psychiatrist who treated suspected movie-theater shooter James Holmes contacted a University of Colorado police officer to express concerns about Holmes’ behaviour several weeks before the rampage, ABC News reported, citing unnamed sources.

OAK CREEK, Wis. (Reuters) – The killings of six worshippers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin has thrust attention on white power music, a thrashing, punk-metal genre that sees the white race under siege.

RAFAH, Egypt (Reuters) – Egypt branded Islamist gunmen who killed 16 police near the Israeli border as “infidels” and promised yesterday to launch a crackdown following the massacre that has strained Cairo’s ties with both Israel and Palestinians.

OAK CREEK, Wis. (Reuters) – The gunman who killed six worshipers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin was identified as a 40-year-old US Army veteran and authorities said they were investigating possible links to white supremacist groups and his membership in skinhead rock bands.

LITTLETON, NH, (Reuters) – A Mennonite minister goes on trial this week for helping a woman flee to Nicaragua with her daughter to evade court-ordered visitation with her former same-sex partner, and he could face up to three years in jail if convicted.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s coalition government suffered its worst crisis to date yesterday when the junior partner in the two-party administration rebelled after its ally in power, the Conservatives, killed its plans to reform the House of Lords.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Ernesto kept on a westerly course in the Caribbean Sea yesterday and was expected to strengthen slowly over the coming 48 hours while heading towards Mexico’s Yucatan, U.S.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – U.S. actor Sean Penn joined President Hugo Chavez at an election rally in Venezuela on Sunday, bringing a dash of Hollywood to the campaign as he rode with him atop a truck past cheering supporters.

MECCA, (Reuters) – The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation suspended Syria’s membership early yesterday at a summit of Muslim leaders in Mecca, citing President Bashar al-Assad’s violent suppression of the Syrian revolt.

OAK CREEK, Wis., (Reuters) – A gunman killed six people and critically wounded three at a Sikh temple during Sunday services before police shot him dead, and the attack is being treated as domestic terrorism, police said.

ALEPPO, Syria,6 (Reuters) – Syrian army tanks shelled Aleppo and a helicopter gunship strafed rebel positions with heavy machinegun fire as they fought into early today for control of the country’s biggest city and key battleground of the 17-month uprising.

ADEN, (Reuters) – A suicide bomber struck at a wake in Yemen’s southern city of Jaar overnight, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens more, the defence ministry said, in the deadliest attack since the army declared victory over Islamist militants in June.

CAIRO, (Reuters) – Islamist gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian police yesterday and seized two military vehicles to attack a crossing point into Israel, the deadliest incident in Egypt’s tense Sinai border region in decades.

ALEPPO, Syria  (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used artillery, planes and a helicopter gunship to pound rebel positions in Syria’s biggest city, witnesses said, in a battle that could determine the outcome of the 17-month uprising.

ADDIS ABABA, (Reuters) – Sudan said yesterday it had reached a deal with South Sudan on oil transit fees, a first step towards ending a dispute which had brought the hostile neighbours close to war, but also said it wanted a border security agreement before oil flows resumed.