7 Chinese kidnapped

YAOUNDE: Seven Chinese nationals have been kidnapped off the Bakassi peninsula in southwest Cameroon, several sources told AFP on Saturday. “Seven Chinese were kidnapped yesterday (Friday) morning in international waters off Bakassi”, by an unknown group calling itself the “Africa Marine Commando,” a Cameroonian source close to the investigation and rebel movements in the sector told AFP. Contacted by AFP, the Chinese embassy refused to comment.

Egypt clashes

CAIRO: Twenty-four people were injured in clashes between Christians and Muslims in northern Egypt, a security official said on Saturday. Twenty people, both Coptic Christians and Muslims, were also arrested in Friday’s troubles, the official said. Fighting broke out in the northwestern province of Mersa Matrouh when Muslim residents began to hurl stones at Christian construction workers they thought were building a church.

Kissinger in hospital

SEOUL: Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was admitted to hospital in the South Korean capital Seoul on Saturday with what an official called a minor stomach problem. Kissinger, 86, came to Seoul on Wednesday to speak at a security forum and met President Lee Myung-Bak on Friday. He was admitted to Severance Hospital in the north of the city after complaining of stomach pain, Yonhap news agency said.