Around the world briefs

Afghanistan — Last week four Canadian soldiers were killed and 27 civilians were injured, when a man on a bicycle drove into a crowd and detonated himself. The soldiers were reportedly handing out notebooks, pens and candy to children when the attack occurred.

A new study shows that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are three times more likely to be killed by hostile action then their British counterparts and 42 1/2 times more likely compared to US soldiers serving in Iraq.

Los Angeles, USA — Guerilla artist, Banksy, has drawn harsh criticism from animal rights activists and the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services for his latest exhibit, which includes a living room scene with an elephant, painted in a red and gold design, standing among furniture. Although the paint is non-toxic, government officials believe it's unsafe and illegal to use.

Kazakhstan — The first female space tourist lifted off from the Russian Cosmodrome. Anousheh Ansari, Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur, accompanied a US and Russian team to the space station orbiting earth. The trip carries a price tag of $20 million US. Ansari is the 4th space tourist to go up to the space station.

Thailand, Bangkok — The Thai military has surrounded it's government headquarters with tanks and declared the King to be leader of a provisional authority. The Prime Minister was in New York City attending a United Nations meeting when the news about the coup broke. The coup follows months of political crisis in which the government has been accused of corruption and brutality in troop crackdowns.

Hungary — Protesters stormed the headquarters of Hungarian state television in Budapest. The station was forced off the air briefly after the Prime Minister admitted to lying about the economy during an election campaign.