China Tops List of World’s Deadliest Roads for 11th Consecutive Year

For the 11th consecutive year, China has topped the list in number of traffic deaths — 5.1 for every 10,000 motor vehicles. The Xinhua News Agency report Friday says government statistics show nearly 82,000 road deaths in China last year.

Xinhua said the world average was two deaths per 10,000 vehicles. U.S. government statistics reported about 1.7 fatalities per 10,000 registered vehicles in 2006.

Private car ownership in China has soared along with the country’s economic boom. But overloaded vehicles, reckless driving and poor road conditions are still common and frequently lead to fatal crashes.

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Bomb explodes in Bulgaria, no injuries reported

A bomb was detonated late on Tuesday near the building where Bulgarian regional police chiefs were holding their annual meeting in Plovdiv, the country’s second-largest city, local Sofia News Agency reported Wednesday.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumen Petkov and Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev were also at the meeting, authorities said.

The explosive device was detonated to destroy a lawyer’s office, situated in a newly constructed residential building. Fortunately, the blast did not claim any victims but caused serious damage to the whole building.

The area has been cordoned off by police while officers make a second analysis of the scene. An investigation into the incident is underway