Israeli troops ambush militants on border

JERUSALEM • Troops ambushed four militants as they planted bombs along Israel's boundary with Syria around midnight, the Israeli military said yesterday, amid heightened tensions along Israel's frontiers.

The militants, whose identity or affiliation remained unknown, were assumed to have been killed on the spot by a combination of ground and air fire, said Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an army spokesman, adding that troops were scanning the area.

No casualties were reported on the Israeli side of the lines, where special forces had been lying in wait, aided by observation teams and permanent cameras, after the military noticed irregular activity at night during the past week, Lt-Col Conricus said.

NYTIMES

Briton jailed for killing husband in Malaysia

ALOR SETAR • A British woman was jailed for 3½ years yesterday after admitting she stabbed her husband to death during a fight on the Malaysian holiday island of Langkawi.

Samantha Jones, 52, killed Mr John William Jones in 2018 in their house during a row, which her lawyer said came after years of domestic abuse. She admitted to culpable homicide and was handed the jail term and ordered to pay a RM10,000 (S$3,270) fine.

She had initially been charged with murder.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Ex-pope Benedict said to be seriously ill

BERLIN • Former pope Benedict XVI, the first pontiff in 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, is seriously ill, a German newspaper reported yesterday.

The newspaper, Passauer Neue Presse, cited Benedict's biographer, German author Peter Seewald, who met the 93-year-old emeritus pope at the Vatican last Saturday.

REUTERS