World news in brief

PTI/IANS Indian-origin girl in UK gets 162 IQ points,more than Einstein London, May 6 (PTI): A 12-year-old Indian-origin girl in England, who secured two points higher than geniuses Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking in the British Mensa IQ test, has been invited to join the coveted society as a member. Rajgauri Pawar appeared in the British Mensa IQ Test in Manchester last month, and scored 162 the highest possible IQ for someone under the age of 18.She has been invited to join the coveted Mensa IQ test with the highest possible score. Pawar of Cheshire county is among the one per cent of those who sit in the Mensa test and achieve the maximum mark, with the ‘genius’ benchmark set at 140. She secured 162, two points higher than Einstein and Hawking. She is one of only 20,000 people to achieve the score worldwide, Mensa said. “I was a little nervous before the test but it was fine and I’m really pleased to have done so well,” Pawar said. Pawar joins the elite British Mensa IQ Society as a member after her great performance. Her father Dr Surajkumar Pawar said, “This wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of her teachers and the support which my daughter enjoys every day at school”. She studies at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, which also expressed pride at her achievement. “Everybody is delighted. She is a very well-liked student and we all expect great things from her,” said Andrew Barry, her maths teacher. Iran’s Foreign Minister to visit Afghanistan Tehran, May 6 (IANS): Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Kabul on Sunday at the invitation of his Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani.Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Bahram Qasemi, announced here on Saturday that Zarif is scheduled to meet Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, reported IRNA. Different aspects of Tehran-Kabul relations and ways to promote the current level of bilateral ties as well as the latest international and regional developments are among the issues to be discussed during Zarif’s visit to Kabul, Qasemi said. Zarif also visited Pakistan on May 3, during which he met top officials over a terrorist attack near the Pakistan-Iran border last month, in which 10 Iranian border guards were killed. 31 dead as school bus falls into gorge in Tanzania Dodoma, May 6 (IANS): At least 31 persons, mostly children, were killed when a school bus plunged into a gorge in Tanzania on Saturday, officials said.Theresia Mahongo, Karatu District Commissioner, said the bus plunged into the Marera gorge killing 28 students and three teachers near Arusha, Xinhua news agency reported.According to Mahongo, the school bus had 35 people on board. The students were supposed to participate in inter-school mock examinations in the district. 249 quake-hit pagodas in Myanmar renovated so far A total of 249 out of the 389 earthquake-hit pagodas in Myanmar’s Bagan city have been renovated so far, the media reported on Saturday. The remaining 140 damaged pagodas will also be renovated under a four-year project of restoration of the quake-affected pagodas, Xinhua news agency reported.An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck the ancient city of Bagan on August 24 last year that left three persons dead. After the powerful quake, the Myanmar government received international donations for renovating the damaged pagodas in Bagan, authorities said. The authorities are also cooperating with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to have Bagan included as a world heritage site while implementing the restoration project. US An Indian-origin couple has been killed in an apparent revenge attack by their daughter’s ex- boyfriend who too was eventually shot dead in a standoff with police in San Jose city in the US state of California. Mirza Tatlic, 24, fatally shot Naren Prabhu, a Silicon Valley tech executive, and his wife at their home in San Jose, CBS San Francisco reported. Prabhu’s daughter, who lives in another state, was not there. “The suspect had been in a dating relationship with the victims adult daughter who was not at home,” San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia said. “The relationship ended last year. The suspect had a history of domestic violence and there was an active criminal restraining order,” Garcia said.The incident had been reported by the 20-year-old son of Prabhu. “When officers arrived at the home on Laura Valle Lane they saw an adult man deceased in the front doorway suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Officers learnt from the adult son that his mother and 13-year-old brother along with the suspect were still inside the house,” police said. A standoff quickly developed with the suspect and a SWAT team was called in. “As officers were setting up contain and arrest teams, the suspect released the 13-year-old boy,” Garcia said, adding that the suspect refused to surrender. Officers then went into the house and found the two deceased victims and the dead suspect, Garcia said.