News in Brief- (30-09-2018)

22 die from drinking tainted alcohol in Iran

TEHRAN, Sept 30: At least 22 people have died in Iran in three separate incidents of poisoning by adulterated bootleg alcohol, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Saturday. Despite tough penalties in force for alcohol consumption since the Islamic revolution of 1979, the consumption of smuggled or bootleg liquor remains widespread. Cheap moonshine is sometimes adulterated with toxic methanol in place of ethanol, the alcohol found in properly distilled spirits. — AFP

No Nobel Literature Prize this year

STOCKHOLM, Sept 30: There won't be a Nobel Prize in Literature this year but the Swedish Academy that awards the prestigious prize is still in the limelight. Jean-Claude Arnault, a French citizen who is a major cultural figure in Sweden, is at the centre of a sex abuse and financial crimes scandal that has tarnished the academy and forced it to take a year off in its deliberations. The 72-year-old is now on trial in Stockholm, facing two counts of rape of a woman seven years ago. — AP

Afghan troops kill 20 militants

KABUL, Sept 30: The Afghan army waged a cleanup operation and killed 20 Taliban militants in the country's southern province of Helmand, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Sunday. "The operation was conducted recently in Nahri Sarraj district and 22 suspected militants were also arrested," the ministry said in a statement. Six hideouts and bunkers, four vehicles and 27 motorcycles were also destroyed as a result of the raid in the province, 555 km south of Kabul, according to the statement. — Xinhua

Typhoon Trami injures 45, direct hit on Japan

KAGOSHIMA, Sept 30: A powerful typhoon hurtled toward Japan's mainland Sunday after injuring dozens on southern islands, as weather officials warned that fierce winds and torrential rain could trigger landslides and floods. Typhoon Trami has already sparked travel disruption in the world's third-biggest economy, with bullet train services in the west of Japan suspended and almost 1,000 flights cancelled due to the closure of a key airport hub. Television footage showed cars in Okinawa island flipped over by the strength of the wind. Several houses were flooded or damaged and 38 people sustained minor injuries but no one was feared dead, local officials said. Authorities issued evacuation advisories to some 349,000 residents, while electricity was cut to more than 300,000 houses. — AFP