Bosnia-Herzegovina: Mass grave yields bodies of 18 Muslims

Forensic experts exhumed 18 bodies of Muslims killed in eastern Bosnia during the country’s 1992-1995 war, officials said Saturday.

Jasmin Odobasic, deputy head of the Muslim Commission for Missing Persons, said the bodies were exhumed Friday around the village of Nova Kasaba near the town of Srebrenica.

About 8,000 Muslim men and boys were presumed killed by Bosnian Serb troops in a massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. About half of the bodies have been found in mass graves in the area.

Since the end of the war, which killed an estimated 200,000 people, close to 10,000 bodies have been exhumed. More than 20,000 people remain missing.

London: ‘Dr. Scholl’ loses battle with rare pneumonia

William Scholl, who made foot care fashionable during the 1960s and 70s with a contoured wooden sandal designed to exercise the muscles, has died at age 81.

Scholl died March 15 from a rare form of pneumonia at a hospice in Douglas on the Isle of Man, said his wife, Susan.

A Briton and an orthopedic specialist, Scholl brought a simple wooden sandal from Germany to the United States in the late 1950s, carved it to fit the foot, added a leather strap across the toes and sold it with the slogan, “Looking good and doing you good.”

The clog still being produced and sold was designed to exercise the feet and legs, toning muscles and ostensibly preventing podiatric ailments.

Rome: Exiled Afghan king’s return home postponed

The exiled Afghan king’s long-awaited return to his homeland was postponed Saturday until next month, the Italian government announced.

Ex-King Mohammad Zaher Shah, 87, had been expected to leave Rome, his home since his ouster in a 1973 coup, on Monday and arrive in Kabul on Tuesday.

The Foreign Ministry did not give a departure date, but the Afghan Embassy in Rome said it was told the Italian government wanted several more weeks to organize the trip.

“The trip was postponed to the month of April by the Italian government, not by our side,” the king’s secretary, Hamid Sidig, said.

“They have some logistical and technical concerns. We agree, we understand and we are cooperating.”

He said no new date has been set.

Italian officials have expressed concerns about Zaher Shah’s security when he returns to Afghanistan.

Lebanon: Building collapse claims at least four victims

A seven-story Beirut building collapsed into a pile of rubble Saturday, killing four people and crushing cars on one of this capital’s main thoroughfares.

At least one person was injured, and there were fears that more victims could be in the debris. More than 50 police officers searched for survivors. The building was used by a school, which was not in session Saturday.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known, but there was no suggestion that terrorism played any part. No explosion was heard, and the building had been undergoing renovations.