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Minibus strikes a parked vehicle on a Pakistan highway, killing 17 people

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A speeding minibus rammed into a bus parked along a motorway in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing 17 people and injuring five others, police and rescue officials said.

The crash occurred near Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when the minibus slammed into the parked bus, according to Shah Fahad, director-general of Rescue 1122 emergency services. He said preliminary findings suggested driver negligence caused the accident.

The bus was carrying passengers to the scenic Swat Valley.

Rescue workers and police shifted the dead and injured to a hospital, Fahad said.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan because of poor infrastructure, reckless driving and weak enforcement of traffic safety regulations.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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