S P O T L I G H T

India to host SAARC
Islamabad, March 9
The third SAARC Information Ministers Conference would be held in Delhi early next year and Bangladesh would host the first meeting of working journalists and editors from the region, Pakistani Media Minister Nisar A. Memon said here today. PTI

5 die in Lanka attack
Colombo, March 9
Five persons, including a woman, were killed and 27 others injured in an explosion at a rally of the ruling United National Party in a suburb of Sri Lankan Capital Colombo last night, the police said today. An unidentified man tossed a hand grenade into a crowd at a campaign rally of the ruling party ahead of local body elections to be held later this month, killing four men and a woman, and injuring 27 others. PTI

Stampede at prayer
Lagos, March 9
At least 12 persons were killed in a stampede by hundreds of worshippers trying to escape armed gunmen who disrupted a weekly prayer vigil, policemen and witnesses said today. AP

11 die in Nepal
Kathmandu, March 9
Eleven persons, including a civilian and 10 Maoist rebels were killed in Nepal, with the authorities further intensifying their crackdown against the ultras, officials said today. PTI

Slum homes gutted
Dhaka, March 9
Fire swept through two crowded low-cost residential districts in the Bangladeshi Capital of Dhaka, killing one person and destroying some 300 shanty homes, officials said. A 25-year old resident was burnt to death during a pre-dawn fire yesterday in old Dhaka’s Lalbagh district that also destroyed two bread factories and damaged 20 homes, a fire spokesman said. AFP

Ceasefire plea
Amsterdam, March 9
The European Union and the USA have agreed to jointly urge Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to halt military action against the Palestinians, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said today. EU and US representatives in Tel Aviv could present the initiative to Mr Sharon as early as Sunday morning. Reuters

Murder masterminded
Ramallah (West Bank), March 9 
A man wanted by Israel over his alleged involvement in the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet Minister has been arrested by Palestinian secret services, a Palestinian security source said today. Majdi al-Rimawi, who was singled out by Israel as the mastermind of Rehavam Zeevi’s October 17 assassination, “has been arrested by Palestinian secret services,” an official from the preventive security services told AFP on condition of anonymity. AFP