St. Petersburg

CNPC, Rosneft sign oil deal

China National Petroleum Corporation and Russian oil giant Rosneft have signed a long-term agreement for oil deliveries with an estimated value of $270 billion, President Vladimir Putin said Friday. "The contract is intended for 25 years," Putin said during the ongoing 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "Russia and China are strategic partners, and the cooperation in energy has been positive," Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin told Xinhua on the sidelines of forum. Sechin said deliveries could start as early as this year.

Peshawar

Bomb kills 13 at religious center

A suicide bombing at a Pakistani religious center killed at least 13 worshippers on Friday, the third major attack to test the new government since the Taliban vowed revenge for a US drone strike that killed its deputy commander. The spate of violence has shattered a period of relative calm after the May election that returned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to power. More than 60 people have been killed in less than a week from attacks that included suicide bombers targeting women students, a hospital and a funeral procession.

Singapore

Island republic hit by smog

Forest fires in Indonesia, which have cloaked Singapore in record-breaking smog, are raging on palm oil plantations owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies, environmental group Greenpeace said Saturday. Singapore's worst environmental crisis in more than a decade has seen the acrid smoke shroud residential blocks, and the island's prime minister has warned it could last weeks. Singapore's smog index hit the critical 400 level on Friday. On Saturday morning, the reading was at 323.

New Delhi

Flash floods kill at least 560 people

Flash floods and landslides triggered by early monsoon rains have killed at least 560 people in northern India and left tens of thousands missing, officials said on Saturday, with the death toll expected to rise significantly. Houses and small apartment blocks on the banks of the Ganges, have toppled into the rushing, swollen waters. Air force helicopters are being used to pluck survivors to safety. About 33,000 people had been rescued so far this week, according to the home ministry.

Xinhua-Reuters-AFP-AP

(China Daily 06/23/2013 page2)