Religious unrest spreads to northeast Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar – Sectarian violence spread to a new region of Myanmar, with a mob burning shops in a northeastern town after unconfirmed rumors spread that a Muslim man had set fire to a Buddhist woman.
The spread beyond the western and central towns where deadly mob attacks and arsons have occurred since last year will reinforce doubts that President Thein Sein’s government can or will act to contain the violence.
The extent of Tuesday night’s violence was unclear, as the area is remote and officials were difficult to reach at a late hour. Unconfirmed reports on Muslim news websites said a large mosque and a Muslim orphanage had been burned down.
Gunmen kill female polio worker in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Police say gunmen in Pakistan have shot dead a female polio worker and wounded another in the northwest, while assailants have gunned down three Shiite Muslims in the south.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for slaying the vaccination workers, who have become frequent targets of attacks.
Some Pakistani militants allege that polio workers are U.S. spies and that the vaccine makes people sterile.
Police officer Mushtaq Khan says the two women were attacked Tuesday in Kaggawala village where they went as part of a U.N.-backed anti-polio campaign.
Separately, police officer Najam Tareen says gunmen fired on a vehicle carrying a Shiite lawyer and two of his sons, killing them in the southern city of Karachi.
Biden signs trade pact with Trinidad & Tobago
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and political leaders from across the Caribbean met in the capital of resource-rich Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday to sign a trade agreement and discuss a range of security, investment and energy issues.
After a more than three-hour session, Biden signed an agreement providing a framework for trade and investment between the U.S. and the Caribbean Community, a group of 15 nations and territories that include Trinidad, Jamaica and the Bahamas.
At a news conference, Biden said he was aware that island nations face unique challenges and added that the U.S. administration’s goal is “not simply growth, but it’s growth that reaches everybody.”
The leaders also discussed efforts to combat drug trafficking and other transnational crimes under a U.S. program launched in 2009 dubbed the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. More than $200 million in funding has been committed to it so far.
S. Korea idles 2 nuke plants after tests faked
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea has idled two nuclear power plants after finding that test results for crucial control cables were falsified in a new blow to an industry mired in a graft scandal and safety lapses.
South Korea’s trade-and- energy ministry said Tuesday a company contracted to conduct tests fabricated the results for cables that failed to meet international standards for capacity to withstand changes in voltage and pressure. It warned that the plant shutdowns would result in summer power shortages.
The cables control valves that are responsible for cooling nuclear fuel or preventing the release of radioactive materials during an emergency. Another four nuclear reactors that were either shut down for scheduled maintenance or under construction were also using cables that had failed the tests.
3 blast off for 6 months aboard space station
MOSCOW – A Soyuz carrying an American, Russian and Italian blasted off Wednesday for a six-hour trip to the International Space Station, where the new crew will spend six months conducting a variety of experiments.
The Russian spacecraft launched at 4:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which Russia leases in Kazakhstan. Live footage provided by NASA TV showed it soaring into the clear night sky. About four minutes later, the announcer said the Soyuz was traveling at 4,700 miles per hour.
Associated Press
