Suicide bombing on Shiite mosque kills 21

PESHAWAR - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a Shiite mosque in northwestern Pakistan as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers, killing at least 21 people and wounding 36. Shiite Muslims in Pakistan have increasingly been targeted by radical Sunnis who consider them heretics, and 2012 was the bloodiest year for the minority sect in the country's history. The attack took place in the town of Hangu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has experienced previous sectarian clashes. AP

Abe to issue new statement on war

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he intended to release a new statement on Japan's attitude to the second world war. The premier has long been known to favour the toning down of a 1995 apology for wartime aggression directed at Asian neighbours. Beijing and Seoul have repeatedly called for Tokyo to face up to its past and make amends for its 20th century aggression. Abe so far has given no insight into any new declaration. AFP

Bollywood star Khan's charges upgraded

MUMBAI - A court in Mumbai has ruled that Bollywood star Salman Khan will be tried for culpable homicide over a 2002 hit-and-run case that may land him behind bars for 10 years, his lawyer said. Khan is alleged to have rammed his Toyota Land Cruiser onto a pavement and over five sleeping homeless people in Mumbai, killing one and injuring the others. Khan was being tried for the lesser charge of negligent driving, but prosecutors filed successfully for the charges to be upgraded. AFP

Mobster accused of Fukushima racket

TOKYO - Japanese police have arrested a high-ranking yakuza over claims he sent workers to the Fukushima radiological clean-up without a licence, the first arrest of a mobster in connection with the nuclear plant. Police officers in Yamagata prefecture were quizzing Yoshinori Arai, a 40-year-old senior member of a yakuza group affiliated to the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate. AFP