US security man killed

KABUL: A bomb killed one US service member and wounded four after it exploded near their armoured vehicle in eastern Afghanistan, a US military statement said on Saturday. The blast occurred in Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan, on Friday. The injured were rushed to nearby bases for treatment. — AP

Mishap kills 10

LUCKNOW: A speeding vehicle careened off the road and killed 10 men sleeping on a sidewalk

in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Saturday. Five others were hurt in the incident overnight in the industrial town of Shikohabad, 250 km northwest of the state capital Lucknow, said police spokesman Surendra Srivastava. The vehicle has not been identified yet. — AP

Emergency landing

NEW DELHI: An Indian Airlines plane with 87 passengers aboard made an emergency landing soon after takeoff at New Delhi’s airport Saturday following the pilot’s detection of a technical fault, a report said. The plane was on a domestic flight to the southern city of Hyderabad, the Press Trust of India reported. The aircraft returned to the airport within half an hour of its departure after the pilot detected a hydraulic problem, PTI said. Fire engines and ambulances were on standby and the plane landed safely. — AFP

Quake jolts Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A moderate earthquake jolted Pakistan’s capital and two northern towns on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, an official said. The magnitude-5.2 quake was felt in the capital, Islamabad, the northwestern city of Peshawar and Chitral, a scenic town in the north, said Nasir Mahmood, an official at the state-run seismological centre. — AP

Sex workers arrested

JAKARTA: Seventy foreign sex workers, mostly from China and Uzbekistan, have been arrested in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in a crackdown which has netted 138 suspects this week, police said on Saturday. Jakarta police spokesman Tjiptono said most of those arrested

including four pimps were suspected of misusing their tourist visas and will be deported if found guilty. Many nightclubs and karaoke bars in major Indonesian cities employ foreign women as “singing companions”. — AFP