Australia | 19 hurt after pickup truck slams into cafe

Nineteen people were hurt after a pickup truck smashed into a cafe in northern Australia yesterday, sparking a fire that engulfed the building, police said. Officials were trying to figure out what caused the driver to veer off the road and into the Serves You Right Cafe in Ravenshoe, south of Cairns in Queensland state. The crash caused a gas bottle at the cafe to explode, setting off a fire, Queensland police spokesman Todd Saunders said. Three people suffering serious injuries were airlifted to a hospital in Cairns, Saunders said. The others were being treated at local hospitals. The driver was among those who were hurt. Queensland Ambulance Service Assistant Commissioner Rod Sheather said patients were being treated for a “varying degree of burns.” Kate Lewis, who works in a supermarket across from the cafe, described the scene as horrific. “We just heard a massive sonic boom and went running out and saw the cafe on fire and lots of burned people,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

India | Police kill 12 Maoist rebels in eastern stronghold

Police killed at least 12 Maoist rebels in a clash early yesterday in one of their strongholds in eastern India. The police attacked the rebels as they were on their way to extort money from several mining contractors in Palamau district in Jharkhand state, said police Inspector-General S.N. Pradhan. Pradhan said the police recovered 12 bodies and eight automatic guns in a forested area, nearly 300 kilometers south of Patna, the capital of neighboring Bihar state. He said there were no police casualties. In April last year, Maoist rebels ambushed a police vehicle in the same region in Jharkhand state and killed six police officers during voting in India’s national elections. The rebels, who have been fighting for more than three decades demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor, say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. They are considered India’s biggest internal security threat, operate in 20 of India’s 28 states and have thousands of fighters.