News in Brief(23-5-2018)

Rights groups condemn S Arabia women activists’ arrests

RIYADH, May 22: International rights groups have condemned the arrests this week of at least seven prominent Saudi Arabian women's rights activists who previously campaigned for the right to drive, which the conservative kingdom is set to grant from next month. The decision to end a decades-old ban on women driving cars has been hailed as proof of a new progressive trend under reform-minded Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent. — Reuters

Taliban attack claims 14 cops lives

KABUL, May 22: An Afghan official says at least 14 police officers have been killed after Taliban attacked several districts in eastern Ghazni province. Provincial council member Hassan Reza Yusoufi says the seven killed in Dih Yak district included the police chief and a reserve police commander. Another seven were killed in Jaghatu district. He said the attacks started Monday night and were continuing Tuesday in Dih Yak, Jaghatu, Ajristan and Qarabagh districts. — AP

Tobacco kills 20,000 Sri Lankans every year

COLOMBO, May 22: Around 20,000 Sri Lankans die every year due to the diseases caused by the use of tobacco, an official here said on Tuesday. Chairman of Sri Lanka's National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA), Palitha Abeykoon told reporters here in Colombo that his office had taken various measures to discourage people from the use of tobacco products as a result. — Xinhua