Hong Kong detains people as Tiananmen anniversary marked

HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities on Saturday detained people as they pounced on any attempt at public commemoration of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, while around the world tribute was paid to the victims of the bloody event. As night fell, candles appeared in the windows of several foreign countries’ missions to Hong Kong - in defiance of a warning not to do so. Discussion of the events of 1989, when China set troops and tanks on protesters, is all but forbidden on the mainland.

Driver killed, eight injured in train accident in China BEIJING: A passenger train accident in southwestern China on Saturday killed the driver and injured eight people, state broadcaster CCTV reported. As the Guangzhou-bound train was about to enter a tunnel in Guizhou province, it ploughed into debris deposited on the tracks by a mudslide, derailing two carriages and killing the driver, CCTV reported. Of the eight injured, seven were passengers and one was a member of the train staff. All other 136 passengers were safe, according to CCTV.

Myanmar villagers accuse junta troops of burning spree BANGKOK: Myanmar junta troops have torched hundreds of buildings during a three-day raid in the country’s north, local media and residents said, as the military struggles to crush resistance to its rule. The Sagaing region has seen fierce fighting and bloody reprisals since the coup last year, with local “People’s Defence Force” members clashing regularly with junta troops. Troops torched hundreds of buildings in the villages of Kinn, Upper Kinn and Ke Taung over three days last week, media reports said.