■ PAKISTAN
Blast kills girl, wounds 10
A bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded yesterday outside a bank in Quetta, capital of gas-rich Baluchistan Province, killing a girl and wounding 10 people, police said. There was no claim of responsibility but separatist insurgents in the western province of Baluchistan have been fighting for control of its gas resources for years. “The girl was a beggar, she succumbed to her wounds during surgery in hospital,” said city police chief Mohammad Akbar. Baluchistan is the country’s poorest province and many of its people say they do not get a fair share of the profits from its resources. Nationalist rebels have waged a low-level insurgency for decades.
■MYANMAR
Dozens die in ferry mishap
At least 38 people died when their ferry sank in a river in the country’s cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta, official newspapers reported yesterday. Another 44 passengers were rescued on Tuesday morning when the vessel sank in the Yway River near Myaungmya, one of the delta towns worst hit by Cyclone Nargis in early May. Boat accidents are common in the impoverished army-ruled country where several sinkings or collisions involving overloaded vessels occur each year.
■NEPAL
UN soldiers asked to stay
The government has decided to ask the UN to continue a peacekeeping mission in the country for another six months, an official said yesterday. All major political parties agreed to seek the UN extension but a formal request to the world body has yet to be made, Transport Minister Ramesh Lekhak said. The UN’s peace mission was established in January last year for one year and extended for six months earlier this year after Nepal’s communist rebels gave up their armed revolt and joined mainstream politics. Lekhak said with the peace process going smoothly, the government would ask for a smaller UN mission to stay in the country for the next six months.
■VIETNAM
Gold mining ring arrested
Fifteen people were arrested for their alleged involvement in a ring that used explosives for illegal gold mining in central parts of the country, an official said yesterday. Authorities also confiscated 46kg of explosives and about 300 detonators in a raid last week, said Pham Ngoc Hai of the provincial border guard command in Quang Nam province. The men told police they bought the explosives, mostly leftover ordnance from the Vietnam War, from scavengers and used it for gold mining, he said. Since late last year, some 400 people have rushed to Nam Giang District in the province to look for gold, he said.
■JAPAN
US$50m set for food crisis
The government plans to provide an additional US$50 million worth of food aid by October to help ease the food crisis in developing nations, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said yesterday. With yesterday’s announcement, the country’s total amount of contribution in food aid and agricultural assistance came to US$1 billion since January. The government has already decided to contribute US$200 million to developing nations to tackle the global food crisis. Soaring food prices, which have caused food crises in developing nations, would be high on the agenda at the upcoming G8 summit meeting to open on Monday in Japan’s northern city of Toyako.
■ FRANCE
Heart care ranks released
Luxembourg and France topped a European survey on Thursday that ranks countries by the quality of cardiovascular care. Romania and Bulgaria came last, highlighting the fact that money counts when it comes to heart care. Health Consumer Powerhouse, a private company, said its survey showed that a comprehensive prevention program — such as screening for cardiovascular risks and helping smokers quit — paid dividends for both governments and patients.
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