SEOUL, South Korea
Korean crew missing after boat collision
A South Korean cargo vessel sailing in fog collided with a Chinese freighter and sank early Saturday off China’s northeast coast, and its 16-member crew was missing, the South Korean coast guard said.
The accident occurred about 38 miles southeast of Dalian, a coastal city in China’s Liaoning province, said a South Korean coast guard official. China mobilized 19 vessels and two helicopters to search for the missing crew of the Golden Rose.
LUCKNOW, India
Violent storm kills 27, knocks out power
A violent storm lashed northern India on Saturday, causing several buildings to collapse and leaving 27 people dead, officials said.
Twenty-four people were killed in the town of Sultanpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh when buildings were destroyed, while three others were killed by lightning in the neighboring town of Pratapgarh, police said. More than two dozen people were hurt.
High winds pulled down electrical lines, leaving much of the state without power.
HAVANA
Medal given to troop killed in hijack try
Cuba awarded a posthumous medal to a soldier killed by conscripts who fled their base and later tried to hijack a plane to leave the island.
The soldier, Yoendris Gutierrez Hernandez, was on guard duty at a military base April 29. Three deserters bayoneted him to death with stolen rifles after he refused to surrender his weapon, the Communist Party newspaper Granma reported Saturday.
A government statement blamed American policy for the attempted hijacking, saying U.S. rules allowing most Cubans to stay if they reach U.S. soil encourages violent attempts to leave the island.
VENICE, Italy
Chertoff pushes for flight-info sharing
Pieces of information gathered about airline passengers arriving in the U.S. can, when least expected, be crucial to preventing terrorist attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Saturday as he pushed for a deal with European countries on sharing data.
European governments are trying to ensure the deal won’t violate their strict privacy laws. The EU and U.S. must hash out an agreement to replace one that expires in July to avoid potential problems for passengers and airlines.
LIMA, Peru
Penguin misses its target by 3,100 miles
A “disoriented” Magellanic penguin swam ashore on Peru’s coast, some 3,100 miles north of his home in the frigid waters of southern Chile.
The penguin got lost while looking for food, Peru’s National Resource Institute was quoted as saying in El Comercio newspaper Saturday.
Peruvian authorities are trying to coordinate with their Chilean counterparts to return the penguin to its home waters.
