IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China

Stability key issue for region

The mainstream of the Asian-Pacific region's situation is development and stability, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Brunei on Tuesday. Despite the global economic downturn, the process of regional integration still maintains fast growth and has bright prospects.

Russia

Helicopter crash kills at least 19

A helicopter packed with passengers crashed in Siberia on Tuesday, killing at least 19 of the 28 people aboard, Russia's civil aviation commission said. The Mi-8 aircraft operated by Polar Airlines caught fire after crashing in the Sakha region with 25 passengers and three crew on board, the Interstate Aviation Committee said.

Uae

Dozens jailed over power plot

A UAE court on Tuesday sentenced 69 Islamists to jail for up to 15 years on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, at the conclusion of a mass trial criticized by rights groups. The Federal Supreme Court sentenced 56 of the 94 defendants to 10 years in prison each, according to the official WAM news agency.

Indonesia

1 dead, dozens injured in quake

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake which hit the Indonesian province of Aceh on Tuesday killed a child, injured dozens and destroyed buildings, sparking panic in a region devastated by the quake-triggered tsunami of 2004. The quake struck inland at 7:37 am at a depth of just 10 km in the mountainous Bener Meriah district in the heart of Aceh, the US Geological Survey said.

Bangladesh

Army rejects hoax claims

Bangladesh's army has rejected "vile" newspaper reports that described the rescue of a textile worker trapped for 17 days in a collapsed garment factory as a hoax. A pro-opposition Bangladeshi daily first reported the story last week, branding the rescue of seamstress Reshma as fake.

Nigeria

54 prisoners recaptured

Nigerian police have recaptured 54 of 175 prisoners who escaped from a jail in the southwest town of Akure after it was attacked by gunmen, a police spokesman said on Tuesday. Gunmen shot dead two civilians and then used explosives to raid the Olokuta prison in Ondo state on Sunday.

China Daily-Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 07/03/2013 page12)