■ China
Flood death toll reaches 204
The death toll has risen to 204, with at least 79 people still missing, after torrential rain brought landslides and flash floods to several areas of China last week, state media said yesterday. Estimates from the Ministry of Civil Affairs said the floods affected some 17 million people in 16 provinces, damaging nearly 140,000 homes, the official Xinhua news agency said. At a meeting on flood control on Saturday, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu (回良玉) ordered the "full implementation of all anti-flood and drought measures so that human casualties and property loss can be reduced to a minimum and the safety of major cities and communication lines can be guaranteed" the agency said.
■ Afghanistan
Journalist-slayer captured
Authorities have arrested the leader of a gang accused of killing four foreign journalists in 2001, including two from Reuters, a police official said yesterday. The suspect, identified as Zar Jan, was arrested after a shootout with police in Sarobi district, 50km east of the capital, Kabul, on Saturday night, the official said. "Zar Jan was wounded by several bullets. He will be brought to Kabul today," said the police official, Feraidoon. The four journalists, including Australian television cameraman Harry Burton and Afghan photographer Azizullah Haidari of Reuters, were killed on Nov. 19, 2001, at Tangi Abrishum, about 90km east of Kabul.
■ Nepal
Reporters protest censorship
About 200 journalists demonstrated in the capital yesterday in the continuing campaign to force the royal government to lift restrictions on the media. The journalists marched for 3km waving banners demanding the reinstatement of press freedoms. King Gyanendra seized absolute power on Feb. 1, declared a state of emergency, and imposed restrictions on the media. Several newspapers and radio stations have been shut down, hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs, and some were arrested for violating the government's ban. Though the emergency measures were lifted in April, the clampdown on the media remains.
■ India
Rebel group may fight again
A powerful rebel group in India's northeastern state of Nagaland yesterday threatened to end a ceasefire in place since 1997 if the government did not meet its demands for a separate homeland. "We may be forced to fight again and hence are prepared for the worst," National Socialist Council of Nagaland spokesman Kraibo Chawang told reporters in Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland. Leaders of the guerrilla group have held at least 20 rounds of peace talks with Indian negotiators this year in a bid to end nearly six decades of violent insurgency in the region.
■ Singapore
Sheep bought for festival
An Islamic council is taking steps to make sure sheep for an annual ritual arrive in Singapore on time after 4,596 animals were two days late last January, officials said yesterday. Alami Musa, president of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, said the sheep will be bought from suppliers all over Australia, not just Western Australia, and they will be shipped three days earlier. The council is also taking charge of the Korban exercise. Previously the task was left to volunteers. The next Korban falls on Jan. 10, when Muslims celebrate Hari Raya Haji marking the end of the pilgrimage season to the cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
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