QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’m not going to be so stuck in the mud that an opportunity to actually get something done is flagrantly wasted because of a kind of predetermined stubbornness.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on a willingness for new nuclear talks with North Korea Article, 1A
Toll from bird-flu virus in China hits 13
BEIJING - Two more people have died in China from a new strain of bird flu, raising the death toll from the virus to 13, state media reported Sunday.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the two deaths were reported in Shanghai and that three new cases were also confirmed in the financial hub. A total of 11 new cases was reported Sunday - including two in a central province that previously had been unaffected. In all, 60 cases of the virus, known as H7N9, have been reported in China.
The two cases reported Sunday in central Henan province, which is near Beijing, followed an announcement Saturday that a 7-year-old girl had become the first person in the capital to be infected with the virus. All previous reported cases were in Shanghai and other eastern areas.
A World Health Organization official said Sunday that it wasn’t surprising that the virus had spread to Beijing.
Michael O’Leary, head of WHO’s office in China, said it’s not the case that everyone confirmed to be infected with H7N9 was “clustered in one small area with the same source of exposure.”
Four new cases were reported Sunday in eastern Zhejiang province and two more in Jiangsu.
Health officials believe the virus spreads through direct contact with infected fowl.
Red Cross reports 17 killed in C. Africa
BANGUI, Central African Republic - Local Red Cross officials in the capital of the Central African Republic said at least 17 people were killed in fighting between rebels and residents.
The violence came three weeks after fighters from the rebel alliance known as Seleka invaded the capital and overthrew President Francois Bozize.
Bozize, who had ruled for a decade, had also seized power through a rebellion.
Residents of Bangui said they awoke Sunday to heavy gunfire rattling across the capital.
The weekend fighting left at least 10 people dead in the Poukandja neighborhood, while another seven bodies were found elsewhere.
The country’s new leader, Michel Djotodia, has begun the process of putting together a new government, though critics say he lacks control over the rebels in the streets, who are accused of looting and violence.
Sunni candidate among 10 dead in Iraq
BAGHDAD - A series of attacks in Iraq on Sunday killed 10 people, including a Sunni candidate running in the coming provincial elections.
The attacks against security forces and a provincial election candidate came as the country is preparing for the first vote since the U.S. withdrawal. In the Saturday elections, Iraqis are to choose provincial governing councils.
The most serious attack came at night near the northern city of Mosul, when a booby-trapped body left in the street exploded among a group of policemen, who were trying to inspect it. Police said that five policemen were killed.
Hours earlier, police said that Najam Saeed, a Sunni candidate in the provincial elections, was killed when a roadside bomb hit his convoy near Muqadiyah town, 55 miles north of Baghdad. The blast was followed by shooting between gunmen and the candidate’s bodyguards.
Two of Saeed’s brothers were killed, and the candidate’s son and three bodyguards were wounded in the attack.
At least 13 other candidates have been killed in previous attacks ahead of the election.
In the western city of Fallujah, police said a roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the western city of Fallujah, killing two security officers.
Fire at zoo kills reptiles, insects, otter
LONDON - A fire killed reptiles, insects and a male otter at the Five Sisters Zoo in Scotland on Sunday.
Officials said the blaze started in the zoo’s tropical house and was fought by some 50 firefighters.
Visitor services worker Lesley Coupar said the fire was “the worst nightmare” because the zoo is owned and operated by animal lovers.
She said “everything” in the reptile house had died except some dwarf west African crocodiles.
There were no injuries to personnel or visitors in the early morning fire in Polbeth, a town about 12 miles south of Edinburgh.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 04/15/2013