Kim Jong Nam murder trial starts today

SHAH ALAM (Selangor) • The trial of two foreign women charged with murdering Mr Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, will start today at the High Court in Shah Alam.

It will be held before Judge Azmi Ariffin, during which the plea from both the accused will be recorded.

Siti Aisyah, 25, of Indonesia, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, have been charged - with four others still at large - with the murder of Mr Kim, 45, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 departure hall on Feb 13.

They are charged under Section 302 of Malaysia's Penal Code, which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

The prosecution will call 30 to 40 witnesses, among others; 10 expert witnesses, including an expert on VX nerve agent; as well as a few foreigners.

BERNAMA

Six killed in Indian bus accident

NEW DELHI • At least six people were killed and 16 others injured in a road accident in the southern Indian state of Telangana yesterday.

Police said the accident occurred when a state-run bus rammed into a stationary truck on a national highway in the state's Suryapet district, adding that an investigation has been ordered into the incident.

The bus, which was carrying some 40 passengers and a driver and a conductor, was on its way to the state capital Hyderabad from Vijayawada district when the accident occurred. Eyewitnesses told police that the bus was travelling at high speed and its driver failed to apply the brakes when he spotted the lorry.

XINHUA

Bali residents flee to neighbouring Lombok

MATARAM (Lombok) • Some 25 people from seven families of Tumbu village in Karangasem, Bali, have fled the Indonesian island using a wooden boat to the neighbouring Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, in fear of the imminent eruption of Mount Agung.

As of yesterday, a total of 315 people from 97 families had arrived in Lombok, according to the Disaster Mitigation Agency.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK