Baquba, Iraq - A suicide bomber killed two US soldiers, an Iraqi interpreter, and two bystanders in the Iraqi city of Baquba on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Eleven people were also wounded when a man detonated explosives strapped to his body near the offices of the local government in Baquba, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, witnesses told the German News Agency, dpa.

Brussels - The European Union's executive is to launch an anti-trust probe into cooperation deals between members of the Star Alliance and Oneworld airline groups such as British Airways, Iberia and United, officials in Brussels announced on Monday.

The European Commission fears that two sets of deals between certain members of the two alliances could potentially reduce competition on hotly-contested trans-Atlantic routes and push up prices, a statement released in Brussels said.

Washington, Apr 20 : A new study has revealed that treatment with biphosphonates could prevent radiation-induced leukaemia.

Lead researcher Dr Alexandra Miller, a senior scientist at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, said that the study will not only help military and space agency personnel exposed to risky levels of radiation, it will also be beneficial for civilian populations.

London, Apr 20 : An international team of researchers has identified nine new genes linked to learning disabilities.

The team of 70 researchers has found nine new genes on the X chromosome, which when knocked-out, led to learning impairment.

Learning disability is significantly more common in males than in females and genetic causes have long been sought on the X chromosome because males have only one X chromosome and so a gene mutation on the X is more likely to have an effect in males than in females.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian wildlife officers seized 210 clouded monitor lizards believed to be for sale at a village in the central Pahang state, officials said Monday.

A raid conducted by the wildlife department on Saturday led to the discovery of the protected animals in individual sacks, department director Khairiah Mohamad Shariff said.

The lizards were valued at about 10,500 ringgit (2,837 dollars), she said.

Khairiah said no suspects were detained in the operation.

Manila - The Philippine military has tightened a security cordon around Muslim militants holding captive an Italian Red Cross worker, officials said Monday.

Italian Eugenio Vagni, 62, was one of three Red Cross workers kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, on January 15. He is reportedly suffering from a hernia injury.

The rebels have freed Vagni's two colleagues, Swiss Andreas Notter on April 17 and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba on April 2.