Chadian troops have killed 207 members of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria

Chadian soldiers, part of a multinational force appointed by the African Union to help Nigeria fight Boko Haram, clashed with the insurgents in the town of Gamboru in Borno State near the border with Cameroon, according to a statement issued by Chad's army and read on the Nigerian Television Authority. We destroyed 13 pickup trucks and dozens of motorcycles that were used in the attack, the statement said.Last week, the Chadian army said it killed 117 Boko Haram insurgents when it recaptured the town of Dikwa, also in Borno State. The rebels control towns in north-eastern Nigeria spread over an area the size of Belgium and have killed more than 13,000 people since 2009. Boko Haram, which seeks to establish a state with its strict interpretation of Islamic law, has expanded its violence into three of Nigeria's neighbours - Cameroon, Niger and Chad

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IF mobile phones are supposed to increase the risk of brain tumours, there is no evidence of it in

 cancer statistics in New Zealand, research shows.
The explosion in numbers of people using mobile phones.
Cancer expert Mark Elwood says there have been concerns using mobile phones could lead to an increase in the frequency of brain tumours."Several major international studies have suggested either no risk or a slightly increased risk in high users, while some others have suggested substantial risks."New Zealand's first commercial mobile phones were introduced in 1983 and in 1995, it was estimated 10 per cent of the population had mobile phones. Last year, it was estimated 71 per cent of those aged 18 to 54 and 37 per cent over 55s had mobile phones. Professor Elwood's research team went through the cancer statistics in New Zealand from 1995 to 2010 to see if there was a corresponding increase in brain cancers, but found no general increase. "In fact, for the wide age range 10 to 69 years, there has been a decrease of about one per cent per year." The research added to the evidence there wasn't a substantial increased risk in mobile phone users - which was consistent with most similar studies in other countries, he said. However, he warned the type of study could not exclude a small risk, or one limited to a certain subtype of cancers. Cancers also might arise after more than about 15 years of phone use. They did not know why brain cancer figures were decreasing in New Zealand. The research was published in the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

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AVALANCHES caused by a heavy winter snow have killed at least 108 people in northeastern Afghanistan

The avalanches buried homes across four northeast provinces, killing those beneath, said Mohammad Aslam Says, the deputy director of the Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority.The province worst hit appeared to be Panjshir province, about 100km northeast of the capital, Kabul, where the avalanches destroyed or damaged around 100 homes. Rescue teams had been dispatched to the affected areas and casualties were expected to rise, Syas said. The heavy snowstorms, which began early Tuesday, hampered rescue efforts. Snow fall from the storm was nearly one-meter deep in places and fallen trees blocked roads in the Panjshir Valley. Avalanches in the valley's Dara district affected up to 600 families, according to people trying to reach the area to assist in rescue efforts. "People there have told me that two of my relatives have been killed and eight others are still under the snow," said an Afghan who goes by the single name Sharafudin. "My son and I are trying to get through to see if we can help find their bodies. But it will take us at least three or four hours to get there because of the snow and the road is very narrow, so we have to walk, the car can't get through." Large parts of Afghanistan have been covered in snow as a major storm interrupted an otherwise mild and dry winter. Afghanistan has suffered through some three decades of war since the Soviet invasion in 1979. But natural disasters such as landslides, floods and avalanches have taken a toll on a country with little infrastructure or development outside of its major cities. In May, a massive landslide killed anywhere from 250 to 2,700 people, authorities said at the time. Another landslide in 2012 killed 71 people

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