Tsunami victim raped

COLOMBO : A teenager left orphaned and homeless when tsunamis swept over

Sri Lanka faced another agony in the hours that followed - she was gang raped, a top official says, and reports of other abuse have triggered an investigation in refugee shelters housing tens of thousands of displaced people. There were few details of the case of the 17-year-old girl, who was sexually assaulted by six men after the tsunami struck a week ago. The attack occurred in the area of Galle on the southern coast — country’s hardest-hit area — but the girl was not in a refugee centre at the time, said Harendra de Silva, head of the National Child Protection Authority. — AP

Wrestlers’ army in Bihar

PATNA: Yet another private militia, this time of wrestlers, has been formed in Bihar, arguably one of India’s most lawless states, to take on musclemen of the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal in the run-up to the February assembly poll. Supporters of independent legislator Dadan Pahalwan, a one-time acolyte-turned-foe of RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad have formed the “pahalwan sena (wrestlers’ army)”.The Pahalwan Sena is the closest to being termed an army as it includes a number of retired soldiers and packs quite a lethal punch with its sophisticated weapons, sources say.Dadan Pahalwan , after he fell out with Lalu, had joined hands with RJD chief’s bete noir Mulayam Singh Yadav. — HNS

HK lawmaker arrested

HONG KONG : A Hong Kong lawmaker was arrested for breaching the peace when he confronted protesters denouncing politicians for botching business deals in the territory, police and local media said Sunday.Thousands marched through downtown Hong Kong on Saturday to criticize opposition legislators for backing a lawsuit that derailed a $3 billion government real estate trust listing, which they said hurt Hong Kong’s image as a financial center. — AP

Two die in Afghan fighting

KABUL: One US soldier and a former Afghan militia leader were killed on Sunday when American troops clashed with gunmen during a search operation in western Afghanistan, US and Afghan officials said. The troops came under attack from “an unknown number of enemy forces” while searching a compound near Shindand Airfield in Herat province early Sunday morning and returned fire, a US military statement said. “The Afghan citizen died at the scene,” the statement said. — AP

Jiabao to attend summit

BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend an emergency international summit in Indonesia next Thursday to discuss the global response to the tsunami tragedy, China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday. Wen will “exchange views with leaders of the relevant countries and organisations on issues such as the international community’s role in disaster relief, re-construction of places and the strengthening of regional cooperation in disaster prevention”, said a ministry statement. — AFP

6 killed in house collapse

ISLAMABAD: A mudslide triggered by heavy rain and snow struck a home in a hill resort town in Pakistan, killing a couple and their four children, police said on Sunday. The family was killed when the roof of their home collapsed under the weight of the mudslide that rolled down a mountainside on Saturday in Abbottabad, a town about 70 km northwest of the capital Islamabad, said Azghar Khan, a police official in Abbottabad. — AP

Pak frees 266 fishermen

KARACHI: Pakistan on Sunday released 266 Indian fishermen who had been languishing in jails since last year for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters, officials said. “We are

releasing the fishermen after we received instructions from Islamabad,” Ali Akbar, an official of the Sindh home department, told AFP. The decision was made as a “goodwill gesture” to neighbouring India, he said. — AFP