World briefs

SOUTH KOREAFerry owner found dead

Police said today they have found the body of a fugitive billionaire businessman sought in April's ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing. Police officer Wu Hyung-ho told a televised news conference that the body had been found June 12 in southern South Korea. DNA and fingerprint tests confirmed the identity of Yoo Byung-eun, but it was not known how Yoo died. Authorities believe Yoo was the ferry's owner and his alleged corruption may have contributed to its sinking. A $500,000 reward had been offered for tips about him. Yoo, head of the now-defunct predecessor of the ferry's current operator, Chonghaejin, allegedly still controlled the company through a complex web of holding companies in which his children and close associates are large shareholders. The government offered a $100,000 bounty for Yoo's eldest son, and one of his daughters was arrested in France in May.

BRITAINUN convenes Girl Summit

More than 700 million women alive today were married before they turned 18, the United Nations children agency said today, as it co-hosts a Girl Summit in London calling for action to end child marriages and the practice of female genital mutilation. Figures issued by UNICEF say child brides are most common in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and one in three, or some 250 million, were married before 15. India alone accounts for a third of all the world's child brides. The agency said that while the percentage of girls being married as children is slowly declining, population growth means that the absolute numbers will remain high unless more drastic action is taken. Some progress has been made on ending genital mutilation, UNICEF said.

AFGHANISTANSuicide bomber kills two

A suicide bomber targeted a police convoy in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, yesterday, killing a policeman and a civilian. Another 15 people were wounded, seven civilians and eight police. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.