One-Minute Reads: News from across the globe

PAKISTAN

Former PM charged with terrorism

(AP): Police in the Pakistani capital filed charges on Sunday against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, as well as 17 of his aides and scores of supporters.

The police have accused them of terrorism and several other offences after the ousted premier's followers clashed with security forces in Islamabad the previous day.

For hours on Saturday, Khan's followers clashed with police outside a court where he was to appear in a graft case. Riot police wielded batons and fired tear gas, while Khan's supporters threw firebombs and hurled rocks at the officers.

More than 50 officers were injured and a police checkpoint, several cars and motorcycles were torched. Police said 59 of Khan's supporters were arrested during the violence. Khan never appeared inside the court to face charges that he had sold state gifts received while in office and concealed assets.

Besides Khan, the case filed on Sunday also accuses former and current lawmakers, former ministers, a former national assembly speaker and scores of Khan's supporters. The charges include terrorism, obstructing police officers in carrying out their tasks, attacks on police, wounding officers and threatening their lives.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Rebels storm mine and kill nine

(AP): Suspected rebels stormed a Chinese-operated gold-mining site that had recently been launched in the Central African Republic, killing nine Chinese nationals and wounding two others on Sunday, the authorities said.

The attack came just days after gunmen kidnapped three Chinese nationals in the country's west near the border with Cameroon, prompting President Faustin Archange Touadera to travel to China in a bid to reassure investors. The attack on the Chimbolo gold mine began around 5 a.m., when the gunmen overpowered the site's guards and opened fire, said Abel Matipata, mayor of the nearby town of Bambari. The mining site's launch had taken place just days earlier, he added.

Local authorities said they were pursuing the assailants, but declined further comment. Residents said that the violence was the latest incident undermining confidence in the security forces.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion fell on the Coalition of Patriots for Change, which is active in the area and regularly launches attacks on the country's armed forces. The alliance of rebel groups is aligned with former President Francois Bozize.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Rights activists assaulted following LGBT event ban

(AP): Rights activists in the Serb-run part of Bosnia were assaulted late on Saturday, hours after police banned an LGBT event planned there over the weekend, citing security concerns.

The attack took place as the activists were leaving a meeting at the offices of the Bosnian branch of the global anti-corruption group Transparency International in Banja Luka. The meeting was organised after the event they hoped to stage in the northwestern city on Sunday to promote LGBT rights was banned by local police.

The activists said a few dozen men chased them through the streets, hurling insults and punches. Before the police arrived on the scene, several activists were hurt, including one who required medical attention. The Banja Luka police said law-enforcement officers had escorted the activists to the police station to take their statements and were still looking for the perpetrators.

The cancelled event, organised and supported by several rights groups from across Bosnia, was to include a movie screening followed by a panel discussion. Its announcement provoked a strong homophobic backlash last week.

ITALY

Skiers feared dead after avalanche

(AP): Rescue teams were searching on Sunday for two skiers who were caught in an avalanche near Mont Blanc on Italy's northern border with France, the local authorities said.

Two surviving off-piste skiers sounded the alarm shortly after the 1 p.m. avalanche on Val Veny, above Courmayeur. But low-lying clouds prevented helicopters from reaching the scene, Courmayeur Mayor Roberto Rota told Sky TG24.

Rescuers were getting to the site by snowmobile, but Rota said the chances of finding the skiers alive was slim, given the amount of time that had passed.

Rota suggested the four skiers were amateurs who hadn't gone up with a guide or proper avalanche safety equipment, though he added that avalanche airbags would have only been useful if rescuers were nearby and had gotten to the scene within the first 15-20 minutes.

"Unfortunately, it's a 99 per cent [chance] that those involved won't make it," he said.