1.<For China's Liao, 15th bid to go abroad is the charm - Feature >

Beijing - Finally sitting in an airplane that would take him to Germany, Chinese writer and poet Liao Yiwu seemed nervous and agitated on Tuesday night.

"We are about to go," he whispered into his mobile phone shortly before takeoff in Beijing.

Liao, 52, was leaving his homeland for the first time, after 14 unsuccessful previous attempts. Just last March, police had hauled him off a plane in his hometown Chengdu, in south-west China, as he prepared to fly to Germany for a literature festival in Cologne.

Repeated intercession by the German government had so far proved fruitless.

Until he was actually on his way, Liao dared not believe he would make it. But he did.

"No one stopped me this time," he told the German Press Agency

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2.<Suspected US missile strikes kill 17 in Pakistan - Summary >

Peshawar, Pakistan - Two suspected US missile strikes on Wednesday killed at least 17 people and injured several others in a Pakistan tribal region along the Afghan border, security officials said.

Ten missiles fired from three unmanned drones hit two compounds in the Darga Mandi area of North Waziristan, a known hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

"Both houses were destroyed, and the residents pulled 12 bodies and several injured from the rubble," a local intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity. "Two of the injured later succumbed to their injuries."

A second intelligence official confirmed the pre-dawn missile strikes and the death toll. He said that almost all of those killed were members of the Haqqani network - a terrorist organization led by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani.

The group has been blamed for launching cross-border raids on NATO-led international forces in Afghanistan from their bases in North Waziristan.

Hours later, another US drone strike on a house in Payekhel village in North Waziristan killed three people another security official said "were also from Haqqani group."

Wednesday's drone attacks were the fourth in North Waziristan in a 24-hour period. The attacks have 32 people dead, many of them suspected militants.

The United States does not officially acknowledge the drone strikes. Pakistan condemns them officially, but many analysts said they believe its agents secretly pass information to US intelligence services about possible targets.
Copyright DPA
 

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3.<Typhoon kills dozens in North Korea>

Seoul - Typhoon Kompasu killed dozens of people in North Korea when it hit the country two weeks ago, state media reported Wednesday.

"Cloud bursts, strong winds and landslides" were responsible for the deaths early this month, according to the reports.

The storm destroyed more than 8,000 buildings as well as crops, roads, tram lines and electricity cables.

Kompasu also caused extensive damage in South Korea, where it killed three people.

In the South, there was speculation that the reconstruction work could be used as a reason to postpone a congress of the ruling Korean Workers Party in Pyongyang, the first to be held in 30 years.

South Korean media also reported that the poor health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had led to a delay in the meeting, which North Korea said was to take place at the beginning of this month.

When the meeting is to take place remained unclear.

Observers said they believed Kim would use the occasion to position his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to succeed him.

The South Korean Red Cross announced this week that it would send supplies of rice and cement worth 10 billion won (8.6 million dollars) to its Stalinist neighbour to help in the aftermath of floods in August.

North Korea requested them following an offer made by the South despite tensions between the two states.