Dutch aid worker hurt

JAKARTA: A Dutch woman was shot at in tsunami-devastated Aceh province, the second aid worker to be wounded by gunfire in a month, a UN official said on Friday. Her injuries were not life-threatening. Marije Mellegers, 24, was shot at in the right leg while travelling in an unmarked car from the city of Medan to Meulaboh on Aceh’s west coast on Thursday. — AP

500 tourists stranded

SHIMLA: An estimated 500 tourists have been stranded in Himachal Pradesh following heavy rains and snow in the high altitude Lahaul valley. The Lahaul valley, 400 km from here, remained cut off from the rest of the country for the third day on Friday forcing officials in Lahaul and Spiti district to appeal to the state government to airlift tourists. — HNS

Internet link restored

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Internet users were back on line Friday after more than a week of disruptions caused by a faulty undersea communications cable that connects the country with the rest of the world, an official said. “The repair work has been completed and Internet supply has been restored,” said a senior official. The cable stopped working on June 27. — AP

Pupil beaten to death

DHAKA: A Bangladeshi schoolboy has died after being beaten by teachers for not doing his homework and for not paying attention in class, police said on Friday. Dipu Islam, 12, developed a severe fever following a caning by his headmistress for not completing the school work. After a second beating by another teacher for not paying attention in class he was admitted to hospital where he died a week later. — AFP

Smuggled kids return

LAHORE: Dozens of Pakistani children who had been smuggled to the UAE to work as camel race jockeys returned home on Friday, an official said. The 86 children, many of them aged between four and 12, had been in the UAE for between three and seven years, said Faiza Asghar, an adviser on child rights issues. — AP