News in Brief

19 killed in Pak floods
Pti, Islamabad

 
At least 19 people have been killed and 42 others injured in flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Pakistan, even as authorities warned the situation may worsen further.
Parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the tribal areas were worst affected by the torrential rains, The Express Tribune reported yesterday. Six deaths were reported in Punjab, the paper said.

US jury sentences Somali pirates to life
Afp, Washington

 
Three convicted Somali pirates escaped the death penalty Friday when a US jury sentenced them to life in prison for the high-seas murder of four Americans in 2011 in the Indian Ocean.
Nearly two dozen people have been convicted in US courts as part of a global crackdown on Somali-linked piracy -- but this was the first case in the United States in which the death penalty was sought.

Australia expands harsh refugee deal
Afp, Sydney

 
Australia expanded its plan banishing asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Papua New Guinea yesterday to include the far-flung Pacific island of Nauru as national elections loom.
The so-called PNG solution, which Canberra hopes will stem a record influx of boat arrivals that has topped 15,000 so far this year, has been criticised by refugee advocates and human rights groups.

Boat sinks off Malaysia; 40 missing
Afp, Kuala Lumpur

 
Rescuers were searching for 40 missing Indonesians including women and children yesterday after a boat carrying them home to celebrate the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan sank off Malaysia.
The boat, thought to be carrying 44 passengers, sank in heavy seas Thursday night around 13 nautical miles off the coast, he said, adding four people were rescued on Friday. The boat people were thought to be illegal worker in Malaysia.

Iraq violence kills 15
Afp, Baghdad

 
Gunmen shot dead a woman and her two daughters in Iraq and a roadside bomb killed a man and his son as 10 died in other attacks, officials said yesterday .
Iraq is witnessing its deadliest violence since 2008, when it was emerging from a prolonged and bloody sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shias.