Bomb blast kills district official in Af
Kabul: An Afghan official says a district administrator was killed when a bomb exploded inside his office in western Afghanistan. Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor in Herat province, says Amir Haftbalah, administrative chief for Kohsan district.
Jehadists kill 8 Syria troops near truce zone
Beirut: Jehadists have killed eight Syrian Government troops near a planned buffer zone around the country’s last major rebel bastion, a monitor said on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack took place late on Friday in the north of Hama province near the planned buffer zone around rebel-held territory in neighbouring Idlib.
Quake hits off Tonga; no injuries reported
Wellington: A strong earthquake has hit off the Pacific island nation of Tonga, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Myanmar denies border shooting
Yangon: Myanmar on Saturday denied allegations of a cross-border shooting that raised tensions with Bangladesh ahead of a scheduled start date for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. The fresh diplomatic row started after a Bangladesh border guard official said that a 15-year-old Rohingya refugee was shot in the elbow on November 4 while grazing cows after multiple rounds were fired from a security post across the demarcation line. Bangladesh summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to lodge a protest but Aung San Suu Kyi’s Govt says it has looked into the allegation and denies it ever happened.