Abu Sayyaf hostage found dead: Officials

ZAMBOANGA (Philippines) • A South Korean kidnapped by Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines in January has been found dead, police and military officials said yesterday.

The hostage, Mr Hong Nwi Seong, whose age was given as 70, was discovered in Patikul town on the strife-torn island of Jolo last Saturday, more than nine months after he was seized by the Abu Sayyaf group.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

3 killed as train hits bomb on railway track

QUETTA (Pakistan) • At least three people were killed and 12 injured when a passenger train hit a bomb planted on a railway track in south-west Pakistan yesterday, officials said. The bomb exploded when the train reached Mastung, a district in Pakistan's insurgency-hit Balochistan province. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

China's Li dismisses fears of hard landing

SEOUL • China is firmly committed to restructuring and reforms, and consumption has "a lot of room" to grow, Premier Li Keqiang said yesterday, dismissing concerns that the economy may be at risk of a hard landing.

The Chinese economy continues to grow at nearly 7 per cent, Mr Li told a gathering of business leaders in South Korea, which counts China as its largest export market. He added that it was natural for the rate of growth to slow as the economy grew in scale.

REUTERS