AP, Karachi
At least five children died and about a dozen others were injured after fire broke out at a government-run boarding house in southern Pakistan, an official said today.
A bedside candle was found to have caused the blaze at a Sweet Home hostel for children of the poor in Mirpurkhas town, after authorities initially investigated an electrical fault.
“Five children died at the (Sweet) Home because of a fast spreading fire,” Javed Odho, the deputy inspector general of police in the region told AFP.
S Korean president urges N. Koreans
to defect
AP, Seoul
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye called on North Koreans to abandon their country Saturday and defect, just a day after a soldier walked across the heavily fortified border into the South.
In a rare message directly addressed to rank-and-file troops and North Korean citizens, the president invited North Koreans to relocate to the “bosom of freedom” in the South.
Chinese navy ships arrive in Myanmar
Reuters, Beijing
Two Chinese navy ships have arrived in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon for a five-day visit, state media said on Saturday, the latest move by Beijing to reinforce military ties with its strategically-located southern neighbour.
China has been on a diplomatic offensive since the government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in April, aiming to forge good ties with the resource-rich country.
N Korea building new submarine
AFP, Seoul
Recent satellite imagery suggests North Korea may be building a new, larger submarine for ballistic missiles, a US think tank has said, as the isolated state pushes its nuclear weapons programme.
The news comes after the North in August test-fired a submarine-launched missile (SLBM) 500 kilometres (around 300 miles) towards Japan, which leader Kim Jong-Un said put the US mainland and the Pacific within striking range.
