Briefly World

US civil rights leader Dorothy Height dies

WASHINGTON: Dorothy Height,a leader of the US civil rights movement and the chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women,died on Tuesday in Washington. She was 98. Height began her career as an advocate for civil rights and gender equality during the 1930s,working to prevent lynching,desegregate the US armed forces and reform the criminal justice system in the US. Height died of natural causes.

Another al-Qaeda in Iraq leader killed

BAGHDAD: An al-Qaeda leader was killed on Tuesday by US and Iraqi forces following the deaths of its two top-ranking figures over the weekend,officials said. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri were killed in an operation Sunday. On Tuesday,the forces killed suspected insurgent leader Ahmed al-Obeidi in the northern province of Ninevah. The slain insurgent was in charge of al-Qaeda in Iraqs operations in the provinces of Kirkuk,Salahuddin and Ninevah.

Deposed Kyrgyz President in Belarus

MOSCOW: Belarus on Tuesday announced giving refuge to deposed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev,as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ruled out full-blooded interaction with Kyrgyzstans new regime,which seized power following violent rioting earlier this month. RIA Novosti quoted Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka as saying that Bakiyev has arrived in Minsk.

Video: Taliban take over abandoned US military base

KABUL: The Taliban swarmed a mountaintop base abandoned last week by the US military,footage on a satellite TV station showed. The video aired on Monday by Al-Jazeera TV showed armed men walking through the former US base,which was strewn with litter and empty bottles,and sitting atop sandbagged gun positions. Taliban fighters said they found fuel and arms. But a US spokesman said ammunition had been evacuated and the fuel handed over to local residents. A man identified by Al-Jazeera as a local Taliban commander said the militants intended to use the base for attacks on US forces.

Migraine turns Britons accent into Chinese

LONDON: A migraine attack is said to have turned a British womans English accent into Chinese. Sarah Colwill 35 has baffled doctors by suddenly speaking with a Chinese accent she believes severe migraines,which she suffers up to three times a week,may be the cause,the media reported. Colwill has been diagnosed with rare sporadic hemiplegic migraines,which cause the brains blood vessels to expand. I have never been to China, she said.

Richest book character on Forbes list: Twilights doc

NEW YORK: Carlise Cullen,father to vampire hero Edward from Twilight,has been named the richest fictional character by Forbes. According to the Forbes Fictional 15 awards,the vampire doctor created by Stephenie Meyer beat millionaires like Scrooge McDuck and Richie Rich. This vampires estimated worth is 34.1 billion,what with shrewd long-term investments in steel,gold,oil and his accumulated salary for 340 years.