ANKARA (AFP) – The Turkish army yesterday said it had extended the duration of three high-security zones in the country’s southeast by three months as part of measures to fight Kurdish separatist rebels. The zones, where civilians are barred, cover uninhabited mountainous regions in the provinces of Siirt, Sirnak and Hakkari, close to the border with Iraq, where the rebels have bases. They were established on June 9 initially for a three-month period. In yesterday’s statement, the general staff said that the zones would also remain in force from September 10 until December 10.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – The number of dead from floods in eastern Romania rose to seven yesterday with one person still missing, authorities said after torrential rains ceased. Heavy rains have washed away dozens of homes in Vrancea, Bacau and Vaslui counties since Wednesday, forcing hundreds out of their homes. “The death toll has risen to seven people, one is still missing and 1,391 persons were evacuated,” said Deputy Interior Minister Victor Dobre.

Romania’s top court postponed until October 11 a landmark corruption trial against former prime minister Adrian Nastase, due to procedural reasons, court officials said yesterday. The case is seen as a litmus test of the new EU member’s ability to conduct high-profile trials effectively after Brussels has said fighting high level fraud is a “point of weakness” in Bucharest’s reform progress. Nastase ran a leftist cabinet between 2000 and 2004 and was indicted in November on charges of blackmail and taking bribes worth 1.4 million euros ($1.9 million), charges he has denied. (Reuters)

Romanian President Traian Basescu will undergo surgery on his thyroid gland at a military hospital in Bucharest today, the presidency said yesterday. The 55-year-old president, who had an operation for a slipped disc last year, will undergo one-hour surgery after a lump was found on his thyroid gland. Checks had shown it was “not a severe situation”, the presidency’s statement said. (Reuters)

Rescue workers yesterday recovered the bodies of seven girls between the ages of six and 20 a day after they went missing in a reservoir in southeast Turkey, local officials said. The girls, all of them cousins, were washing carpets at the reservoir of the Ataturk dam in the province of Sanliurfa Thursday when the youngest accidentally fell into the water. The remaining girls jumped in to save her. (AFP)