The Philippines

Mini-tornado claims 12 lives

Twelve people died when a mini-tornado caused an overloaded boat to capsize in remote southern Philippine marshes, a local official said on Wednesday. The small motorboat, designed for 10 passengers, was carrying 18 people from a small town through marshland on Mindanao island on Monday night when the accident happened, said the local mayor, Alan Aguas.

Mali

Ban says 11,200 troops needed

Up to 11,200 troops could be needed for a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali but a "parallel" military force will have to battle radical Islamists, UN leader Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday. The 11,200 troops could only cover main towns "assessed to be at highest risk", Ban said in a grim report on conditions in Mali that the UN Security Council was scheduled to discuss on Wednesday.

Russia

4 missing after coal mine flood

Four miners are missing after water flooded a coal mine belonging to Evraz, Russia's largest steelmaker, and cut off production, the company said on Wednesday. The accident could lead to a 15 percent fall in coal output for Evraz, undermining its self-sufficiency in coking coal, according to analysts. The steelmaker said the mine, which produced 235,000 tons of coal in the first two months of 2013, will use its reserves to compensate for the halt in production.

Japan

Mother jailed for starving kids

A 25-year-old mother whose two young children starved to death surrounded by rubbish after she locked them in her apartment has been sentenced to 30 years in jail in Japan, reports said on Wednesday. Single mother Sanae Nakamura regularly left her daughter, 3, and 1-year-old son in the apartment in western Osaka while she spent the night at her boyfriend's house.

Reuters-AFP-AP

(China Daily 03/28/2013 page11)