News in Brief

Afghan mine collapse kills 27
Afp, Kabul
A coal mine collapse killed at least 27 miners in northern Afghanistan, officials said yesterday, with rescue efforts underway to save about 12 workers trapped underground.
Emergency teams rushed to the scene after the mine collapsed in a remote area of Samangan province on Saturday, and bodies were being brought out of the accident site.
The US conducted an aerial mining survey of Afghanistan in 2006, building on data from the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, and found evidence of $1 trillion of minerals deposits.

Minor gang-rape triggers outrage in Pakistan
Tnn, Islamabad
The global outcry over the Nirbhaya rape and murder had its echoes in Lahore as the gruesome rape of a five-year-old girl triggered national protests and Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftiqar Chaudhry ordered police in the Punjab province to submit a report to the court on the assault.
The girl, who was repeatedly raped before being dumped in an impoverished Lahore neighbourhood battled for life on Saturday in a city hospital.
In Pakistan, majority of rape cases aren't reported and convictions for crimes cases against women are rare.

UK's  Clegg opposes visa bond plan
Ap, London
Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Sunday said he will try to block any attempt to make foreign visitors routinely pay a security deposit to come to the UK, an idea that has spurred outrage in countries such as India and Nigeria.
The government plans to begin a pilot project in November involving Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Some visitors will have to pay a 3,000 pound deposit, refunded upon departure.

World's oldest man dies in NY at age 112
Ap, Grand Island, Ny
The world's oldest man, a 112-year-old self-taught musician, coal miner and gin rummy aficionado from western New York, has died. He was 112.
Salustiano Sanchez-Blazquez died Friday at a nursing home in Grand Island, according to Robert Young, senior gerontology consultant with Guinness World Records.
Sanchez-Blazquez became the world's oldest man when Jiroemon Kimura died June 12 at age 116.
Born June 8, 1901, in village of El Tejado de Bejar, Spain, he was known for his talent on the dulzaina, a double-reed wind instrument that he taught himself and played at weddings and village celebrations. At 17, he moved with his older brother Pedro and a group of friends to Cuba, where they worked in the cane fields.

Mexico hit by dual storms
BBC Online
Mexico is being battered by two severe storms - one on its eastern coast and another on its west, officials say.
More than 5,000 people have been evacuated on the Gulf of Mexico coast ahead of Hurricane Ingrid which already has winds of 120km/h.
Tropical Storm Manuel has hit the western coast, on the Pacific Ocean, bringing almost twice the monthly rainfall in just three days.