■ China
Space mission planned
China will launch its second manned space mission next year, state television said yesterday. The Shenzhou 6 will be launched with two astronauts aboard some time in 2005 and will remain in orbit for between five and seven days, China Central Television said. No other details were provided. The official Xinhua News Agency has said that 14 astronauts are being trained for the next mission, including Yang Liwei, the astronaut who flew into space in October aboard Shenzhou 5 in China's first manned space mission.
■ Pakistan
Boat capsizes, 10 drown
A small boat packed with 17 members of the same family capsized in a river in eastern Pakistan, killing 10 people, including two women and three children, and leaving two missing, a police official said on Friday. Five people managed to make it ashore after the accident late on Thursday in the Ravi River near the town of Nankana in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, Babar Sarfraz, a police official, told The Associated Press. Divers recovered 10 bodies but two people were still missing. Authorities said overcrowding caused the accident. Boats in Pakistan are usually poorly maintained and rarely carry life jackets.
■ Cambodia
Fishing trip ends tragically
A remnant of the US's secret bombing campaign against Cambodia more than 30 years ago took the lives of a Cambodian father and son who intended to use the unexploded ordinance to kill fish, local media reported yesterday. Nhin Nhem, 43, a deputy village chief, found a small grenade-like bomb during a walk through the jungle. According to the Khmer-language daily, Koh Santepheap, Nhin Nhem and his 15-year-old son transported the bomb to a river near his home where the pair intended to detonate it in order to kill fish they would then gather. The bomb exploded as soon as they removed the pin, killing father and son instantly.
■ India
Students may wear jeans
The government of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh yesterday withdrew its proposal to ban women from wearing jeans and shirts on the campus of institutions of higher education. A formal proposal was to have been submitted to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharati later this week. Bharati belongs to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party government. The suggestion evoked widespread criticism from students, teachers and opposition politicians. The government made a formal announcement that it would not be introducing any dress code for academic institutions.
■ Australia
Heatwave breaks records
Australians sweltered in a record-breaking heatwave yesterday that had families booking into air-conditioned hotel rooms to escape torrid temperatures and orchard owners warning of a ruined harvest. National Climate Centre meteorologist Blair Trewin said the country was reeling from "the most significant February heatwave in the past century." Queensland was expected to post a record high temperature for this time of year of 41?C. In the outback town of Birdsville the mercury hovered at 44?C. In Sydney, where sea breezes temper temperatures all year round, the forecast was for a top of 32?C. Meteorologists warned Australians that global warming meant they should get used to piping summer temperatures.
■ Kenya
Fire ravages Nairobi
Two children died and thousands of people were left homeless on Friday after fire destroyed hundreds of homes in a slum in Nairobi, officials said. Police were unable to put a specific figure on the number of homes destroyed but government officials said they were looking for temporary accommodation for several thousand people. Two children died and their mother was being treated for serious burns. The fire swept through the densely populated district of South B starting on Thursday night and burned through to Friday morning. Some of the residents told reporters they believe the fire was deliberately set in an attempt to drive them off the land.
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