11 killed in accident

SHIMLA: Eleven people were killed and 26 injured in Himachal Pradesh when a bus slipped off a mountain road and fell into a 200 feet gorge. The accident took place late Monday near Gohar in Mandi district, 180 km from here. Police said the driver lost control of the overcrowded private bus that was moving towards Mandi in driving rain and thick fog. — HNS

Court stays sentence

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court ordered a stay of the execution of an Islamic militant convicted of taking part in a deadly bombing campaign in the South Asian country, a government lawyer said on Tuesday. Khaled Saifullah faces execution, along with five other top militants, after the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal against their sentences. “His lawyer submitted a review petition on the sentence again last week and the chamber judge of the Supreme Court ordered a halt of his execution until February 19,” deputy attorney-general Helaluddin Khan said. — AFP

One killed in clash

JAKARTA: Police and soldiers opened fire on each other on Tuesday in Indonesia’s Papua province, leaving one officer dead, a police spokesman said. The incident — the latest in series of clashes around the country between the two underpaid and poorly disciplined forces — took place in the highland town of Mulia, spokesman Kartono Wangsadisastra said. — AP

Minister to visit India

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar begins a three-day visit to India on Wednesday to boost ties as the two countries mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year, the foreign ministry said. — AP

4 hurt in Lanka attack

COLOMBO: Tamil Tiger rebels are suspected in an attack that wounded at least four anti-terrorist commandoes in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said. The rebels fired mortars at the Special Task Force Camp in Batticaloa just after daybreak on Tuesday, wounding the four, said military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe. — AP