UN envoy leaves

YANGON: The UN’s top Myanmar envoy Ibrahim Gambari left the military-run nation on Tuesday after meeting detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but once again failing to secure talks with senior junta members. Gambari arrived on Saturday aiming to nudge the junta toward democratic reform and initiate dialogue between the military rulers, Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party. Before he left on Tuesday, Gambari met Prime Minister Thein Sein, but the premier is thought to exert little authority. — AFP

Blast in Pak mosque

ISLAMABAD: An explosion ripped through a Sunni Muslim mosque in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, wounding five people, police said. It was not immediately clear whether the explosion in the town of Dera Ismail Khan was caused by a bomb or a grenade thrown into the mosque. The district has a history of sectarian violence involving Sunnis and Shias. — AFP