United Nations

Peacekeeping force for Mali

The UN Security Council unanimously approved on Thursday the creation of a 12,600-strong peacekeeping force in Mali starting on July 1, which will be supported by French troops if needed to combat Islamist extremist threats in the country. France, aided by some 2,000 troops from Chad, began a military offensive in January to drive out Islamist fighters, who had hijacked a revolt by Mali's Tuareg rebels and seized two-thirds of Mali.

Mexico

Teachers attack party offices

Striking teachers in Mexico's Guerrero state attacked the offices of four political parties and a building of the state's education department on Wednesday after the legislature approved an education reform without meeting their demands. Dozens of teachers carrying sticks and stones smashed windows and spray-painted insults to President Enrique Pena Nieto on walls. No injuries were reported as the teachers ran wild after a protest march in the state capital of Chilpancingo.

Iraq

At least 19 killed in police clashes

At least 10 Iraqi policemen and nine Sunni Islamist militants were killed in clashes on Thursday in the northern city of Mosul, the third day of the fiercest fighting since US troops left Iraq in December 2011, military sources said. Gunmen launched an attack in Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, on Wednesday night and seized western parts of the city.

Afghanistan

Quake and floods claim 38

A powerful earthquake and flash floods which struck Afghanistan this week killed at least 38 people and damaged hundreds of homes, the presidential palace said on Thursday, offering aid to victims. Wednesday's quake killed 17 and injured 126 in the eastern province of Nangarhar while 300 homes were damaged, a statement said.

United Kingdom

Three jailed on terror charges

Three British Muslims, including a convert who was featured in a documentary about radical Islam and a former London police support officer, were jailed on Thursday in London for traveling to Pakistan for terrorism training. Richard Dart, Imran Mahmood and Jahangir Alom pleaded guilty last month.

Spain

Jobless above 6m for first time

With more than 6 million unemployed for the first time ever, Spain's jobless rate shot up to a record 27.2 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the National Statistics Institute said on Thursday, in another grim development of the recession-wracked country. The agency said the number of unemployed people rose by 237,400 people in the first three months of the year.

Reuters-AP-AFP

(China Daily 04/26/2013 page10)