'Children dead' in Afghan bombing
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6755779.stm
Published: 2007/06/15 15:01:59 GMT
© BBC MMVII

At least six children and three adult civilians have been killed in a suicide attack on a Nato convoy in the Afghan province of Uruzgan, police say.

Uruzgan police chief Qasim Khan told the BBC that the attacker drove his vehicle into the convoy in the provincial capital, Tarin Kowt.

A Nato spokesman said that one of its soldiers was killed in the incident.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary says that never before have so many children been killed in an Afghan suicide attack.

Our correspondent says that the scene in Tarin Kowt was one of chaos and carnage, as the attack - which destroyed a Nato vehicle - took place near a crowded area during the Afghan week-end.

Women and children were among thje 11 people injured.

Another suicide attack also took place on a Nato convoy in the southern city of Kandahar, police say.

Kandahar police chief Esmatullah Alizai told the BBC that five civilians were injured in the attack.

There has been no comment from Nato as to whether any of its personnel was injured in the two attacks.

But the alliance has said that one Nato soldier was killed and three injured in a separate attack on Friday in Kandahar province.

Elsewhere, US-led forces in the south say they have killed at least 24 Taleban fighters in a number of clashes.

They say that a civilian also died in one of four separate battles in the provinces of Helmand, Zabul and Kandahar.

There has been no independent verification of the reports.

Aborigine child sex abuse 'rife'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6756515.stm
Published: 2007/06/15 13:15:56 GMT
© BBC MMVII

A high-profile inquiry into child sex abuse in remote northern Australia says it found cases in every Aborigine community researchers visited.

The report, commissioned by the Northern Territory government, also found a "disturbing" trend in child-on-child abuse.

Investigators said high levels of alcohol and poverty were to blame.

Australia's Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough described the findings as a "national disgrace".

"It's a disaster and it's something that should never happen in this country," he said.

The Northern Territory's government - which commissioned the inquiry after allegations of similar cases were reported in the media last year - said it would begin implementing some of the report's 97 recommendations.

Man dies of bird flu in Vietnam
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6760529.stm
Published: 2007/06/16 19:57:20 GMT
© BBC MMVII

A man has died of bird flu in Vietnam, in the first confirmed human death from the virus there since 2005, health officials said.

The 20-year-old died in the northern Ha Tay province, state media reported.

Bird flu has killed 43 people in Vietnam and officials have warned of more human cases as the virus spreads rapidly in poultry in many provinces.

None of the country's five recent human bird flu cases has been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Two have recovered and two are receiving treatment, Vietnamese authorities say.  

Pandemic fears

The 20-year-old - the fifth case - died of the H5N1 strain of the virus on 10 June, state-run Vietnam News Agency quoted Vice Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan as saying.

He became ill on 2 June and died two days after being admitted to the National Contagious and Tropical Diseases Hospital in the capital, Hanoi.

His family raised fighting cocks and ducks, state media said.

In May, Vietnam announced its first human case of the deadly H5N1 virus after containing a previous outbreak since November 2005.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 190 people since 2003, according to WHO figures. Indonesia has been hardest hit, with 80 deaths.

Scientists fear the virus could mutate to a form which could be easily passed from human to human, triggering a pandemic.

-End -

Back to top ^