Typhoon Haiyan kills first victims in China

Beijing - At least six people died after Typhoon Haiyan slashed across China's south coast and damaged hundreds of homes, state-run media said on Monday.

Three pedestrians were hit by falling walls or advertising hoardings in the southern island province of Hainan, a local newspaper said. One drowned in the neighbouring Guangxi Zhuang region, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Two sailors were found dead after their cargo ship was cast adrift in the storm, Xinhua added, citing maritime rescue authorities in Hainan, and rescuers were still searching for another five crew members lost at sea.

Nearly 600 houses were damaged and 51 collapsed in the downpours and strong winds brought by the typhoon, the civil affairs ministry said in a statement, and 39 000 people were evacuated in Hainan.

The storm has weakened significantly since scything through the Philippines over the weekend, where it is feared to have killed more than 10 000 people as it pulverised towns and villages.

It packed winds of 118km/h when it hit Guangxi after making landfall in Vietnam, according to Xinhua.

Beijing, which is embroiled in a territorial dispute with Manila over islands in the South China Sea, said it would provide $100 000 in cash and "humanitarian emergency relief assistance" to the Philippines.

"We will take into consideration the developments of the disaster and co-ordinate with relevant international organisations to see what we can do," said foreign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang.

Man Beaten Up in Sofia Mistaken for Illegal Immigrant

The man who was beaten up in Sofia on Saturday evening was most probably mistaken for a refugee or an illegal immigrant, according to the Chief Secretary of the Interior.

In a Sunday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, Svetlozar Lazarov said that upon being arrested, one of the suspects had said "we may have gotten it wrong."

Lazarov specified three of a group of five or six attackers involved in Saturday's assault had been arrested.

He described the suspects as "men aged 28-29, followers of the Skinhead movement, with no prior convictions."

He pointed out that the 28-year-old man, who was attacked and severely beaten at around 8 pm on Saturday in Pirotska Street, was undergoing treatment at the emergency care unit of the Military Medical Academy in Sofia and he was still fighting for his life.

Lazarov, as cited by dnevnik.bg, confirmed that the man was a Bulgarian national of Turkish origin who had spent all of his life in Bulgaria.

Asked to comment on the spate of assaults in Sofia against people believed to be refugees or illegal immigrants, he admitted that there had been an escalation of tensions.