AN INDIAN doctor will be allowed to leave Australia after charges linked to failed bomb attacks in the UK were dropped, government officials say. Dr Mohamed Haneef was released from prison on Friday.

Australia's Immigration Minister, Ken Andrews, said Haneef was now free to leave the country, but added that his work visa would not be restored.

"The Commonwealth has no objection to Dr Haneef leaving Australia, " Andrews told reporters.

Police probe attack at mosque

THE Pakistani authorities have launched an inquiry into Friday's suicide bombing outside the Red Mosque in Islamabad, in which at least 13 people died. An interior ministry spokesman said the investigation would be thorough, but he believed earlier Islamist protests and unrest at the mosque were factors. Security has been tightened in Islamabad following the blast.

The mosque was the scene of a siege that ended earlier this month with more than 100 deaths.

Doctor claims he was tortured

ONE of the medics jailed in Libya on charges of infecting children with HIV has said he was tortured in custody.

Palestinian-born Dr Ashraf Alhajouj, held for eight years along with five Bulgarian nurses, said he was given electric shocks to his genitals. The doctor, a Bulgarian citizen, told Dutch TV how police dogs were set on him and he was later forced to pretend that he had been treated well.

UN concerned at Haiti lynchings

THE UN Special Representative in Haiti, Edmond Mulet, has warned of a sharp increase in lynchings and other mob attacks in the Caribbean nation.

Six people were killed in a single week in a number of attacks this month.

California gets tough on diesel

AIR-QUALITY regulators in California have introduced tough new rules controlling fuel emissions from some diesel-powered engines.

The regulations will affect off-road vehicles such as bulldozers and airport baggage trucks.

In all, about 180,000 vehicles will have to be replaced or updated under the toughest rules in the US. The new rules require diesel equipment to be cleaned up from 2010, but the process will probably take until 2025.

Man held for boxer's murder

A MAN was arrested yesterday by police investigating the murder of a former British heavyweight boxer during a row over smoking. James Oyebola, 47, was shot at the back of Chateau 6 in Fulham Road, south-west London, early on Monday, after asking customers to put out their cigarettes.

He died in hospital on Thursday after his life support was switched off.