IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Nigeria

Herdsmen raid villages, kill 100

Gunmen killed more than 100 people in an attack on three villages in central Nigeria, an area where long-standing disputes over land, religion and ethnicity often erupt into violence, two local government officials said on Sunday. Police confirmed the raids by Fulani herdsmen late on Friday, but declined to give a death toll.

ROK

DPRK fires 10 missiles: Yonhap

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea test-fired 10 short-range missiles into the sea, Seoul-based Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday. The missiles were fired off the DPRK's east coast into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), a ROK ministry spokesman said. "Following the rocket launch at 6:20 pm (0920 GMT), our military has maintained a close watch for possible provocations," he said.

Egypt

Food subsidy bill set at $4.31b

Egypt's food subsidy bill will be 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($4.31 billion) this year, an amount that is expected to remain stable in the next fiscal year beginning in July, the new supplies minister said, pledging to tackle a smuggling "mafia". Khaled Hanafi was appointed last month after his predecessor sacked top officials at the state-owned silos and storage holding company and at the main wheat importing body amid allegations of corruption.

United States

Gas leak looks more likely

New York investigators on Sunday hoped to uncover the cause of an explosion that flattened two apartment buildings and killed eight people. The theory that Wednesday's explosion was due to a gas leak gained momentum Friday after the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates pipeline accidents, said underground tests conducted in the hours after the explosion registered high concentrations of natural gas. More than 60 people were injured in the explosion.

AFP- AP-Reuters

(China Daily 03/17/2014 page11)