World in briefs

Drone missiles kill at least six

Pakistan: A CIA drone has fired missiles into a house in the country's underdeveloped tribal region, killing at least six people who Pakistani spooks identified as militants who had carried out attacks on occupation troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The ISI agents said that the US attack targeted a house in the village of Dande Darpa Khel, North Waziristan, owned by a member of the Haqqani network, a militant group that US military officials have called the most dangerous threat to Nato troops.

Emergency crew rescue 34 oil staff

China: Emergency teams with helicopters have rescued 34 workers from an oil drilling platform that was leaning dangerously in the East China Sea after a storm.

The No 3 drilling platform in the Shengli oil field, operated by Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner by capacity, started tilting over on Tuesday, causing four workers to fall into the water and trapping 32 of them on the platform.

Two workers are still missing.

Teachers stay away after killings

Thailand: Anxious teachers in Thailand's restive south have stayed away from school after two teachers were killed by sectarian militants.

The Narathiwat Teachers Federation called for more than 300 schools across the province to close for several days, but it was not immediately clear how many opted to shut.

The southern region was an autonomous Malay sultanate until Thailand, where the Buddhist religion predominates, annexed it a century ago. Some insurgents brand teachers as government collaborators who impose Buddhist culture through the school system.

Seoul imposes sanctions on Iran

South Korea: Seoul has announced that it will ban "unauthorised" financial dealings with Iran and impose other penalties as part of the US-led campaign to isolate the country over its civil nuclear enrichment programme.

The Lee Myung Bak government targeted 102 entities, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and 24 individuals for the sanctions.

The measures prohibit "unauthorised foreign exchange transactions" with those targeted, halt existing banking relations and bar the opening of new branches or representative offices in South Korea.