A suicide attack on a prison van in north-west Pakistan wounded at least 10 policemen yesterday, authorities said.
A car bomber targeted the van as it arrived at a jail in Timergarah, before it picked up prisoners to take to nearby Swat Valley, senior police official Shakeel Khan said. No prisoners were in the van at the time.
Police were planning to use the van to take some of the militants detained during last year's military operation in the region, Khan said.
Timergarah is in deeply conservative Lower Dir district, which is near the Afghan border.
It was a militant stronghold until mid-2009 when the military launched a major offensive and took it back from insurgents. Sporadic violence has continued. (PA)
Charged with desecrating US flag
US authorities said two Canadians will be charged with burying a US flag flown in the California desert to honour 9/11 victims and replacing it with Canada's flag to celebrate an Olympic ice hockey victory.
District attorney's spokesman John Hall said 25-year-old Ryan Smith and 26-year-old Matt Seifert will be charged with misdemeanour vandalism and flag desecration.
The US flag was placed on a La Quinta mountaintop shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Investigators said the men replaced it on February 28 after Canada beat the US to win the men's hockey gold medal. (PA)
Swedish princess breaks off engagement
Princess Madeleine of Sweden has broke off her engagement to lawyer Jonas Bergstrom, the Royal Court announced yesterday.
The couple got engaged last August, but a date had not yet been set for the wedding.
The reasons for the break-up were not disclosed, but Norwegian magazine Se og Hoer published an interview this week with a woman named Tora Uppstroem Berg, who claimed she had spent a night with the princess' fiancé at a popular Swedish skiing resort last year.
Madeleine, 27, is third in line to the Swedish throne, after her sister Crown Princess Victoria and brother Prince Carl Philip. (PA)
Earthquake rattles Indonesian island
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck Indonesia's North Maluku province yesterday. There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was centred near Obi island at a depth of about 33 miles. The area is some 1,500 miles east of Jakarta.
Indonesia's Meteorology, Geophysics and Climate Agency measured the quake at 6.4 magnitude.
Indonesia rests on a series of fault lines that make the archipelago nation one of the most earthquake-prone. (PA)
US State Governor vetoes abortion bills
A US state governor vetoed two abortion bills that he said are an unconstitutional attempt by the legislature to insert government into the private lives and decisions of citizens.
One measure in Oklahoma would have required women to undergo an intrusive ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the foetus before getting abortions.
Governor Brad Henry said legislation is flawed because it does not allow rape and incest victims to be exempted.
Politicians who supported the vetoed measures promised an override vote in the House and Senate as early as next week.
A national pro-abortion group said the ultrasound bill would have been among the strictest anti-abortion measures in the US if it had been signed into law. (PA)
Police sergeant's strip show
A female police sergeant in the Bahamas was charged with organising an illegal male striptease show.
Officer Italia January Williams pleaded not guilty to running a business without a licence and was released on $5,000 bond.
The 33-year-old was among the 107 female patrons arrested during a raid at the Sensationally You strip club last February.
Police issued a statement saying eight officers will face disciplinary charges. No further details were available. (PA)
Obama's Muslim outreach in US
Making good on a promise he made to Muslims last year, President Barack Obama will host an entrepreneurship conference next week to deepen ties between business people in the US and Muslim countries.
More than 250 entrepreneurs, educators and investors from 50 countries will gather in Washington on Monday for the two-day meeting.
The goals include finding ways to make economic and social climates favourable for entrepreneurship, and developing the role of businesswomen. (PA)