China plans launch of first cargo spacecraft

BEIJING • China plans to launch its first cargo spacecraft in April, state media reported yesterday, taking a step towards its goal of establishing a permanently manned space station by 2022.

The Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft will be carried into space by a rocket launched from south China's island province of Hainan. President Xi Jinping has prioritised advancing China's space programme, saying it was needed to enhance national security and defence.

REUTERS

Malaysian aid ship arrives in Bangladesh

CHITTAGONG • A Malaysian ship carrying aid for thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled a bloody army crackdown in Myanmar docked in Bangladesh's Chittagong port yesterday. Senior Bangladeshi officials and Malaysian diplomats gathered at the port as Nautical Aliya docked in the southern city, from where its aid cargo will be transported to Rohingya camps.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Pakistani cops killed while defusing bomb

LAHORE • A top Pakistani bomb squad officer has been killed along with another policeman while trying to defuse a bomb in the south-western city of Quetta, police said yesterday. The commander of the city's bomb disposal unit and a colleague were killed late on Monday, hours after another blast killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 80 in the eastern city of Lahore. The blasts were claimed by different militant factions and did not appear to be related.

REUTERS