AFP - A Japanese shipping company maintained Thursday that one of its oil tankers was likely attacked in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, dismissing reports it might have been hit by a freak wave.

Reuters - Japanese shipper Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said on Thursday it had hired a specialist on military attacks to help investigate damage to a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz as a Gulf port official said the vessel had been involved in a collision.

AFP - At least 29 people have been killed and seven are missing after floodwaters swept through northeast China, state media said Thursday, as the death toll from the worst floods in years neared 1,000.

AFP - Police have arrested four people in connection with a chemical pipeline explosion that rocked a city in eastern China, state media said Thursday, as the death toll rose to 13.