40 missing as storm hits Bangla

DHAKA: Forty fishermen were missing after their boats sank in a storm in the Bay of Bengal, police said today. The four boats carrying them were rocked by heavy monsoon rains on Thursday near the coast of Patuakhali, 150 km south of Dhaka, police said. The rains flooded dozens of villages in the area. Hundreds of fishing boats sailed close to the shore after the authorities gave a storm warning on Monday. The storm with wind speed touching 60 km whipped waves up to two metres, flooding low-lying areas and causing extensive damage to crops.

Typhoon toll

BEIJING: One of the deadliest typhoons to batter eastern China in a decade has left more than 140 people dead and 3,000 injured, local officials said today.

The death toll from Typhoon Winnie in eastern coastal Zhejiang province had exceeded 140, an official of the provincial government said.

The storm damaged 667,000 hectares of arable land in the province, causing direct economic losses of 18 billion yuan ($2.2 billion), he said.

Food poisoning

MOSCOW: At least 33 people have died of mushroom poisoning in Russia since early July and dozens more have been hospitalised, according to officials. Thirteen deaths were registered in the southwestern Lipetsk region and 14 in the neighbouring Voronezh region, adding to six fatal cases reported earlier in the Kursk region. A total of 149 people have been hospitalised.

Executions

BEIJING: Authorities in Shanghai have executed seven men convicted of murder and robbery at public rallies in the city, according to an official report seen today in Beijing. Four men were executed on Thursday after a public rally at which the city's no. 2 intermediate court announced orders for their death sentences to be carried out, the Shanghai newspaper Xinmin Evening News reported.

Korea talks

BEIJING: North Korea and Japan opened their highest-level talks in five years in the Chinese capital today in an effort to normalise diplomatic relations. The one-day session was upgraded from low-level, unofficial talks to counsellor-level discussions by foreign ministry officials following recent concessions by both governments.

Iran cabinet

TEHRAN: Iran's Parliament voted today to approve the new president's 22 cabinet ministers, including two controversial nominees for key posts. The quick approval, which came after heated debates and scathing attacks on at least one nominee, is expected to strengthen President Mohammad Khatami's mandate for easing social restrictions in Iran.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.