Briefly World

Asia,A 45-year-old mother of five,has been in jail in Punjab province for the last 1 1/2 years. Her conviction on Nov. 8 triggered protests from rights groups in Pakistan and abroad.

41 killed in Israel forest fire,foreign help arrives

HAIFA: Foreign firefighters and aircraft poured into Israel Friday as the country battled a huge forest fire that has killed at least 41 people. Firefighters from Bulgaria,Greece have already arrived and assistance was on its way from the US,Russia,Egypt,Cyprus,Jordan,Spain,Azerbaijan,Romania and Turkey.

Lanka minister leads anti-UK protests

COLOMBO: Hundreds of pro-government supporters led by a Cabinet minister tried to storm the British High Commission here to protest what they called UKs supports to Tamil separatists. The protests erupted a day after President Mahinda Rajapaksa was stopped from addressing students at Oxford University and Channel 4 aired alleged footage of human rights violations by Sri Lankan armed forces in the closing stages of the war against Tamil Tigers.

Dutch teen sets off to cross Atlantic

THE HAGUE: Teenage Dutch sailor Laura Dekker said she is setting off to cross the Atlantic Ocean in her yacht,the most challenging leg yet in her plan to sail around the world by stages. The 15-year-old said on her website she expects to take three weeks to cross 2,200 nautical miles from the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa to the Caribbean island of St Maarten.

Cyprus arrests 2 Pak suspected extremists

NICOSIA: The Cyprus police said two Pakistani men have been arrested on suspicion of having links with Islamic extremist groups. The police said they took the suspects into custody after receiving information that they could be tied to fanatical Islamists or extremist organisations. A raid on a suspects home turned up suspicious objects.