China executes seven mafia bosses

BEIJING: Seven mafia bosses were executed in north China Thursday for crimes including murder, extortion and arms trafficking, state media said, calling it the biggest local organized crime case in 60 years. Zhang Baoyi and six others were put to death in Hebei province, after China's supreme court issued an order of execution, Xinhua news agency reported. Zhang and his gang were charged with controlling transport and commodity trading rackets in the province and surrounding areas from 1997, it said. The seven were also convicted of illegal weapons possession, illegal arms trafficking, illegal gambling, robbery and possessing stolen goods, it said. In all nearly 100 people were tried in the case, with 84 convicted to prison terms ranging up to life in jail, previous reports said. Convictions were first handed down in June 2007 and appeals turned down in November last year.

Somali army chief escapes bomb attack

MOGADISHU: Somalia's military chief escaped a roadside bomb attack Thursday which killed at least one soldier in the war-torn capital Mogadishu, officials and witnesses said. The bomb exploded as newly-appointed military chief Mohamed Gele Kahiye was riding in his vehicle in southern Mogasihu. The Al Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabab claimed responsibility. A witness, Abdi Elmi, said several people were injured in the blast, adding that "the government forces opened fire in all directions after the explosion." The Al-Shabab and its Hezb Al-Islam allies have carried out scores of deadly attacks against the internationally-backed Somali transitional government and the African Union peacekeepers protecting it.

Stricken Eurostar train towed out

LONDON: A Eurostar passenger train got stuck in the Channel Tunnel on Thursday after developing a technical fault, the second time in three weeks that trains have broken down in freezing conditions. The Brussels-London service was towed out of the tunnel linking France and England and its 200 passengers transferred to a waiting train to complete their journey, the train operator said. Asked why the train broke down, a Eurostar spokesman said: "We are looking into it urgently to find out the cause. Our first priority was to evacuate the passengers and get them to their destination as quickly as possible."

The spokesman said there would be knock-on delays to Eurostar services because of the breakdown, but that no other trains had developed faults.