Pakistan tests missile

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday successfully test-fired its longest-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads and hitting targets deep inside India, a military spokesman said. The test of Shaheen II missile, with a range of 2,000 km was not expected to hurt peace efforts between the nuclear rivals. It was not disclosed where the test was conducted, but that it was witnessed by President Musharraf. There was no immediate reaction from New Delhi. — AP

Pirates release two

JAKARTA: Pirates on Saturday released two Indonesians they seized days before off the island of Borneo, but the fate of Japanese sailors in a separate attack was still unknown, a navy spokesman said. Brig Gen Malik Yusuf said the captain and ship engineer of KM Tri Samudra were released at Paning River in Kalimantan. — AP

12 drown in river

KABUL: Twelve people were reported missing after Afghanistan’s longest river burst its banks, officials said on Saturday. US helicopters lifted over 200 others to safety. The Helmand River flooded several villages on Friday near Deh Rawood in Uruzgan province, Governor Jan Mohammed Khan said. Some 700 houses were destroyed. All 12 missing were Kuchi nomads.— AP

Four Maoists killed

HYDERABAD: Police in southern India killed four Maoist rebels, including a top commander during a gunbattle in a dense forest, an officer said. Rebel commander DVK Swamy alias Yadanna, was killed along with three other guerrillas in a gunfight that lasted several hours, said police officer Batti Lal Meena. The gunfight occurred in the dense Venkatapuram forest in Warangal.— AP

9 held for drug smuggling

BEIJING: Nine Taiwanese convicted of smuggling heroin into China have been sentenced to penalties ranging from death to life in prison, an official newspaper reported on Saturday. The Taiwanese and a Chinese accomplice were convicted of smuggling 3.9 kg of heroin into Xiamen last year, the People’s Daily said. A court in Xiamen sentenced four of the Taiwanese to death and four to death with a two-year reprieve, it said. The other Taiwanese and Chinese defendant received life in prison. — AP

Swede killed in India

NEW DELHI: Police are investigating the death of a 60-year-old Swedish woman after her body was found buried near a Buddhist meditation centre in southern India, a news report said Saturday. The body was identified as Britt Mari Enquist, who came to the Bodhi Zendo Zen Meditation Centre in Tamil Nadu last month, PTI said. She went missing from the centre a week ago, it said. Police were called in by the centre officials and the body was found on Friday. — AP