Middle East

A suicide bomber riding an empty livestock truck laden with explosives blew himself up yesterday in a crowded district in the predominantly Kurdish town of Qamishli in northern Syria, causing massive destruction and killing 44 people in a new attack claimed by Isis (Islamic State). Residents and activists describe a huge explosion in the western district of the town Kurds call the capital of their self-declared autonomous enclave in northern Syria. Most of the victims were civilians. It was not immediately clear if any Kurdish fighters were killed. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, said the Government is considering giving the Halti peak as a gift to Finland next year as the Finns celebrate 100 years of independence. Most of the mountain is on the Finnish side of their northern border but the peak of 1331m is in Norway. The proposal would redraw the border to put the peak in Finland. While mountainous Norway has several peaks that are higher, Finland’s highest mountain is 1325m. Former Norwegian state surveyor Bjorn Geirr Harsson, who came up with the proposal, said “it would be nice to give Finland an extra 6m.”