IN BRIEF (Page 12)

India

26 dead after bus accident

At least 26 people were killed and 15 others missing after a private bus fell off a bridge and into the swollen Barna River in Raisen district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Monday, the Press Trust of India reported.

The bus plunged off the bridge after one of its tires burst, causing the driver to lose control.

Afghanistan

Taliban suicide bomb kills four

A suicide bomber blew up his car outside a compound frequented by foreigners just after dawn on Tuesday, killing four guards, as two other militants stormed the building in Kunduz city and engaged the Afghan police in a two-hour gunbattle.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault - the latest in a rising number of attacks in northern Afghanistan.

Japan

Pockets of high radiation found

Pockets of lethal levels of radiation have been detected at Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in a fresh reminder of the risks faced by workers battling to contain the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power reported on Monday that radiation exceeding 10 sieverts an hour was found at the bottom of a ventilation stack standing between two reactors.

Pakistan

Fighting claims at least 24

Pakistan's interior minister warned of stern action against militants and criminals on Tuesday in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi, with unabated violence killing another 26 people over the past 24 hours.

Karachi, home to the country's main port, stock exchange and central bank, has been plagued with fighting linked to ethnic and religious tension.

Police say about 200 people were killed in July alone - one of the deadliest months in almost 20 years.

Xinhua-AP-Reuters

(China Daily 08/03/2011 page12)