PARIS. — The roundabout surrounding the Arc de Triomphe, one of the busiest and most famous in Paris, had to be evacuated yesterday after a false bomb alert, police sources said.

GABORONE. — Botswana’s President Ian Khama has received two stitches in his face after being clawed by a cheetah, a government spokesman said yesterday.
The incident occurred last week at a Botswana Defence Force facility where soldiers enlisted in the battle against poaching learn about the animals they help to protect.

JOHANNESBURG. — Former president Nelson Mandela’s children and grandchildren are currently active in more than 110 companies, according to company information.
Their wealth was held in a network of at least 24 trusts established by Ismail Ayob, the family’s former lawyer, Beeld reported yesterday.

THE HAGUE. — A Belgium judge who was one of the judges handling the case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto at the International Criminal Court has withdrawn.

SAO PAULO — Police have arrested all four suspects in the killing of a dentist who was set ablaze by robbers in her office because they could steal only US$15 from her, a spokesman said yesterday.

LONDON — Hundreds of peace campaigners gathered Saturday outside a new Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle control centre in the UK countryside to say it is “time to end killer drones.”

YENAGOA — Pirates stormed a cargo ship off Nigeria’s oil-producing southern coast, kidnapping five foreign sailors and stealing cash, a watchdog and a security source said yesterday.

KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed yesterday that his office has received money from the US Central Intelligence Agency over the past decade, with wads of cash reportedly handed over in suitcases and backpacks.

TRIPOLI — Dozens of gunmen kept Libya’s foreign ministry under siege for a second straight day yesterday demanding it sack officials from the previous regime of Muammar Gaddafi, an AFP correspondent said.

PRAGUE — A powerful blast ripped through a multi-storey building in Prague’s historic centre yesterday, leaving about 40 people injured and possibly up to four dead trapped in the rubble, rescuers said.

DAMASCUS — Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi escaped an assassination bid yesterday, surviving a blast against his convoy in Damascus, in the latest attack on top members of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.