Gunbattles, anti-India protests in Kashmir mark deadly year
AP, Srinagar
Police and residents say anti-India protests and clashes have erupted in disputed Kashmir after a gunbattle between militants and government forces killed four rebels.
The fighting on Saturday comes as the region is already reeling under the deadliest bloodshed in a decade in which over 500 people have been killed.
Bomb strike kills 4 in Egypt
AP, Cairo
A roadside bomb hit a tourist bus on Friday near the Giza Pyramids, killing three Vietnamese and their Egyptian guide, officials said.
The bus was traveling in the Marioutiyah area near the pyramids when the crude roadside bomb, concealed by a wall, went off, Egypt’s chief prosecutor Nabil Sadeq said in a statement. The blast wounded 11 other Vietnamese tourists as well as the Egyptian driver.
7 children die in house fire in Mexico City
AP, Mexico City
Seven children died in a house fire in a poor Mexico City neighborhood Friday. The city prosecutors’ office said the fire erupted before dawn in a wooden dwelling in the Iztapalapa neighborhood.
The office said five of the children were under age 10, including two 2-year-olds. The other two were 13 and 14.
Indonesian tsunami volcano lost two-thirds of its height
AFP, Pandeglang
The Indonesian volcano which caused a tsunami that killed more than 400 people last week lost more than two-thirds of its height following the eruption which triggered the killer waves.
A section of Anak Krakatoa’s crater collapsed after an eruption and slid into the ocean, generating the tsunami last Saturday night. A visual analysis by the Indonesian volcanology agency found the volcano has lost more than two-thirds of its height, an official said Saturday.
India to send humans into space
Xinhua, New Delhi
Indian government Friday approved a project under which humans will be sent into space for at least a week, officials said. The announcement was made by Indian Minister of Electronics and Information Ravi Shankar Prasad during a media briefing.
The project named Gaganyaan (skycraft) will incur a cost of 1.43 billion U.S. dollars. “Gaganyaan program is a great program in pursuit of India’s space autonomy.
7 killed in Indian road accident
Xinhua, New Delhi
At least seven people were killed and four others injured on Saturday when a speeding vehicle hit two cars in northern Indian state of Haryana, police said.
The accident took place in Ambala district, about 45 km south of Chandigarh, the capital city of Haryana.
“In the wee hours today seven people, including two minors, were killed and four others injured after their cars were hit by an unidentified vehicle on Ambala-Chandigarh highway here,” a police official in Ambala said.
