News in Brief

Pilot turns Malaysia Airlines flight around after defect
Afp, Kuala Lumpur

A Malaysia Airlines flight was forced to turn around due to an auto-pilot defect, landing safely early yesterday, said the carrier already reeling from the loss of two planes this year. Flight MH198 from Kuala Lumpur to Hyderabad in India departed late Saturday, but the Boeing 737-800 turned back due to an auto-pilot defect. It landed back in Malaysia's capital almost four hours later after circling to burn fuel in the air.

Pak flood rescue boat capsizes; at least 11 dead
Afp, Multan

At least eleven people including a bridegroom and two children drowned yesterday when a rescue boat carrying a wedding party capsized in flood-hit central Pakistan, officials said, with the death toll feared to rise. The boat, which was carrying at least 35 people, went down in rough waters in the Muzaffargarh district of central Punjab province, they said.

Fresh rain hampers rescue bid in flood-ravaged Kashmir
Afp, Srinagar

Fresh rain hampered rescue operations in Indian Kashmir yesterday, a week after deadly floods swamped the Himalayan region, with medics and survivors describing nightmarish conditions in the devastated city of Srinagar. The floods and landslides have now claimed at least 490 lives in India and neighbouring Pakistan, and rescuers are struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster.