United Kingdom

Remains of King Richard III found

Scientists say they have identified a 500-year-old human found under a parking lot in the city of Leicester as those of England's King Richard III. University of Leicester researchers say tests on a battle-scarred skeleton unearthed last year prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that it is the king, who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

United States

At least 8 killed in bus accident

At least eight people were killed and 38 injured when a tourist bus careened out of control down a California mountain road, struck a car, flipped over and hit a pickup truck, authorities said. The accident occurred on Sunday evening about 130 km east of Los Angeles and left State Route 38 littered with debris.

The Philippines

Clashes claim 22 fighters

A Muslim rebel group said on Monday it attacked Abu Sayyaf gunmen after the al-Qaida-linked militants refused to free hostages, sparking fierce jungle clashes that left up to 22 combatants dead in the southern Philippines. There was no word on whether the hostages were hurt in the fighting, but they remained in the grip of the Abu Sayyaf militants, police said.

Iraq

Bomb attack leaves 19 dead

The death toll from a suicide bomb attack on an Iraqi-government backed militia north of Baghdad has risen to 19 killed and more than 40 wounded, police and hospital sources said on Monday. Initial estimates had said only four people were killed when the bomber detonated his explosives among Sahwa Sunni tribal fighters in Taji.

Cote D'ivoire

Tanker believed held by pirates

A French-owned Luxembourg-flagged tanker with 17 crew members that went missing off Cote d'Ivoire over the weekend is believed to have been hijacked by Nigerian pirates, the International Maritime Bureau said on Monday. The IMB issued a security alert for West Africa's Gulf of Guinea following a spate of violent attacks on vessels in recent days.

Mali

France targets supply routes

French fighter jets pounded Islamist supply bases in northern Mali to flush the radicals out of hiding, as Paris pushed on Monday for African troops to quickly take over the offensive. Dozens of French fighter jets carried out massive airstrikes on rebel training and logistics centers in the area around their last stronghold of Kidal over the weekend.

AP-Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 02/05/2013 page11)