UP train blast toll 12

Lucknow: An explosion on a long distance passenger train in northern India that killed 12 people was caused by a bomb, an official said on Friday. “It is definite that it was a planted bomb that ... blasted from an unclaimed suitcase placed near the toilet,” said Alok Sinha, principal home secretary in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.— AFP

Helgesen’s Lanka visit

COLOMBO: The deputy foreign minister of Norway, the country that brokered Sri Lanka’s ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger rebels, will visit the country next month to review the peace process, officials said on Friday. Vidar Helgesen will meet with Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga and then travel to the north to visit the Tamil Tiger leadership. — AP

US staffers in Taiwan

Taipei: Serving US military officers will staff the American representative office in Taiwan for the first time since the United States switched its diplomatic recognition to rival China 26 years ago, an American official said on Friday. — AP