World briefs

TAIWAN Stormy weather trailing behind a typhoon was the likely cause of a plane crash on a Taiwanese island that killed 48 people on board and injured 10 on the plane and five on the ground, the airline said yesterday.

SOUTH KOREA Seoul unveiled stimulus plans after the shock of a deadly ferry sinking slowed economic growth to the lowest level in three quarters. The finance ministry said government spending would increase by 11.7 trillion won (USD11.4 billion). Another 29 trillion won would be available to small- and medium-sized companies through loans and other financial support.

GAZA STRIP Health officials say the death toll from an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in the northern Gaza Strip has risen to at least 15. Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra says the 15 were among hundreds of people seeking shelter in the school in Beit Hanoun from heavy fighting in the area. At least 150 people were injured.

PHILIPPINES About 100 Filipinos carrying mock missiles marched yesterday to the Chinese consulate in Manila to protest China’s actions in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea. Carrying placards that read “Our Soil, Our Oil” and carton missiles stamped “From Philippines with Love,” the activists said similar protests were being held in front of Chinese embassies and consulates abroad.

INDIA 12 children were killed when a train crashed into their school bus at an unmanned railroad crossing in southern India, police said. The bus driver also died while another 16 children ages 7 to 14 were injured and hospitalized.

PACIFIC OCEAN Crews search for the father of a U.S. teenager (pictured) whose plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean as he attempted to set a record for an around-the-world flight with his father accompanying him, authorities said. The plane flown by 17-year-old Haris Suleman went down shortly after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa on Tuesday night. Hayat said the body of Haris Suleman had been recovered, but crews were still looking for Pakistani-born Babar Suleman.

VATICAN A Sudanese woman who fled to Italy after being spared a death sentence for renouncing Islam has met the Pope.  Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag flew to Rome with her family after more than a month in the US embassy in Khartoum. There was global condemnation when she was sentenced to hang for apostasy by a Sudanese court. “The Pope thanked her for her witness to faith,” the Vatican said.