Currency swap

    MADRID, Spain: Finance ministers of China, Japan and South Korea took one step further Sunday toward a regional foreign exchange reserve swap arrangement. The deal will replace the existing arrangement of mainly bilateral currency swaps and transform it into a more powerful self-managed reserve pooling mechanism governed by a legally binding single contract.

    Heat wave

    NEW DELHI, India: More than 60 people have now died as a result of a heat wave, which has returned to northern India over the past few days. Temperatures in many regions exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, with Sundargarh, Orissa, recording a high of 44.9 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

    Somalia riot

    MOGADISHU, Somalia: Witnesses say soldiers opened fire and killed at least two people in Somalia as tens of thousands rioted over high food prices yesterday.