IN BRIEF

Vietnam

9 missing after cargo ship sinks

A cargo ship sank off the coast of Vung Tau city in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on Tuesday, leaving nine crewmen missing, according to provincial authorities on Wednesday. The 3,000-ton ship, named Hai Thanh 26, sank after colliding with another vessel about 44 nautical miles east of the city. Two crewmen were rescued and a search was on for nine others.

India

Africans attacked over missing boy

Mobs have repeatedly attacked Africans in a New Delhi suburb in recent days after rumors that a local boy had been kidnapped by Nigerians. The surge in violence began Friday when a teenage boy disappeared in Greater Noida, outside New Delhi, and angry relatives claimed he'd been killed by Nigerians. A mob of people began searching the area for Africans,with some accusing kidnappers of eating the boy. The boy returned home on Saturday morning.He died later that day, though the cause remains unclear. Police arrested five Nigerian men but let them go, citing lack of evidence.

United Kingdom

New high-security coin rolled out

The British Royal Mint on Tuesday rolled out its new 1-pound coin, which has been designed to combat counterfeiting. The Royal Mint estimates that about 2.5 percent of the 1.6 billion pound coins in circulation are counterfeit. The new bimetallic 12-sided coin contains a secret security feature, which Mint officials say make it impossible to counterfeit.

Italy

Police foil plot to steal Ferrari body

Italian police said they caught a criminal gang on Tuesday that had been plotting to steal the body of Formula One racing pioneer Enzo Ferrari for ransom.Detectives in Sardinia said they had stumbled across the plot to steal the remains of the racing driver-who founded the Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team and prancing horse brand-and demand money from his family.

Russia

Strong quake hits far east

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 struck near Komandorskiye Ostrava in Russia's far east on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake struck at a depth of about 33 kilometers just off the coast in the Bering Sea. It was originally recorded with a magnitude of 7.0. There was no tsunami threat after the quake, according to the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Indonesia

Man 'swallowed by python'

Villagers and news reports say a 25-year-old Indonesian man was swallowed whole by a python on the island of Sulawesi. A video on the website of the Tribun Timur publication shows villagers slicing open the python's carcass to reveal the legs and torso of the victim, named Akbar. Junaedi, the secretary of Salubiro village in West Sulawesi province, said villagers began searching for Akbar on Monday night after realizing he hadn't returned from his palm oil crops.