News In Brief

44m now suffer from dementia worldwide
Afp, London

The number of people suffering from dementia has risen 22 percent in the past three years, with 44 million people living with the disease worldwide, according to a study released yesterday.
The report from Alzheimer Disease International predicts that the number of people suffering from the disease will triple worldwide to 135 million by 2050.

Indonesia, Australia move to repair ties
Reuters, Jakarta

Indonesia and Australia announced yesterday that they would set up a hotline as part of efforts to repair relations following media reports last month that Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials.
Indonesia has already suspended military and police cooperation over preventing asylum seekers from setting sail to Australia and there were concerns the diplomatic row could hit trade relations.

Radioactive material stolen in Mexico found
Afp, Tepojaco

Mexican soldiers Wednesday set up a safety perimeter around a cancer-treating device containing dangerous radioactive material that was stolen along with a truck from a gas station.
The people who stole the truck and removed the device from a steel-reinforced wooden box and left it in a rural area north of Mexico City are probably already dead or dying, the national nuclear safety board said.

S Arabia sends back 100,000 Ethiopians
Afp, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia has repatriated over 100,000 citizens from Saudi Arabia, Addis Ababa's foreign ministry said yesterday, following a violent crackdown against illegal immigrants in the oil-rich kingdom.
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom said that up to 50,000 more citizens are still expected to come home.

Tibetan father sets himself alight in China
Afp, Beijing

A father-of-two set himself on fire in protest at Beijing's rule in Tibetan regions, triggering clashes and a security crackdown, a US broadcaster and an overseas pressure group said yesterday.
Radio Free Asia said Konchok Tseten, 30, torched himself in Aba prefecture, an ethnically Tibetan area of the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan which has seen a wave of similar actions.