AFP, Kathmandu
Flight from Pokhara to Jomson lost contact with ATC soon after take off
Rescue teams in Nepal today found the burnt-out wreckage of a passenger plane that went missing in a remote mountainous area with 23 people on board, the aviation minister said.
Aananda Prasad Pokharel said the Twin Otter turboprop aircraft had been found in the western district of Myagdi and bodies could be seen scattered around it.
Fiji cyclone death toll rises to 42
AFP, Suva
The death toll from super-cyclone Winston jumped to 42 on Wednesday as concerns grew for remote Fijian villages still waiting for help after the most powerful storm in the Pacific nation’s history.
While international aid efforts are intensifying, with New Zealand saying it will send two navy ships, relief teams are yet to reach some isolated communities devastated in the weekend tempest.
Pakistan to host Afghan peace talks
AFP, Islamabad
The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) on Afghan peace and reconciliation announced on Monday that Pakistan will host peace talks between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban.
A joint communiqué issued by the QCG after a meeting held in Kabul stated that all Taliban and other groups will be invited to participate in the talks through their authorised representatives.
S Arabia urges citizens to leave Lebanon
AFP, Riyadh
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday urged its citizens in Lebanon to leave, after Riyadh halted a $3 billion programme funding military supplies to Beirut in response to “hostile” positions linked to Hezbollah.
Saudi ally and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member the United Arab Emirates followed suit but went even further, banning its nationals from going to Lebanon and reducing its diplomatic representation there.
Pakistan police kills 12 terrorists
PTI, Karachi
Pakistan police has killed at least 12 terrorists involved in target killings and seized a large cache of arms in the country’s biggest city Karachi.
“Eight suspected militants were killed in the Pipri area while four others were later shot dead in Gadap on the outskirts of the city,” Senior Superintendent of Police in Malir district, Rao Anwar told reporters.
Tornadoes kill 3 in Mississippi
Reuters, Baton Rouge
Several tornadoes lashed southern Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 30 as the storms destroyed dozens of homes and businesses and toppled a water tower, weather and emergency officials said.
Hardest hit in Louisiana was the Mississippi River hamlet of Convent, where 90 percent of the estimated 160 mobile homes at the Sugar Hill trailer park were demolished, state police superintendent Colonel Mike Edmonson told a news conference.
