World datelines

Pakistan: 6 Christians die

ISLAMABAD — Hundreds of rioting Muslims attacked Christians in eastern Pakistan on Saturday, burning and looting homes in a rampage that killed six Christians, including a child, and wounded 10 others in the latest violence against minorities in the conservative Muslim country.

The unrest started late Thursday, when members of a banned extremist Muslim organization began torching Christian homes in a village in the Punjabi city of Gojra after allegations that a Quran had been defaced, Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti said. Violence flared again Saturday, when shots were fired on a Muslim rally passing by a Christian neighborhood.

Canada: Stage collapses

CAMROSE, Alberta — One person was killed and at least 15 were injured Saturday after a storm whipped through an outdoor country music festival, causing a stage to collapse.

Strong winds and heavy rain began hitting the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, east of Edmonton, around 6 p.m., said Camrose Police Chief Darrell Kambeitz, who confirmed the one death. Injured was a member of the A Billy Currington band, which was playing when the stage went down. The Big Valley Jamboree Web site said Kevin Costner and his band Modern West were next on the lineup to perform when the storm hit.

China: Town quarantined

BEIJING — Thousands of people have been placed under quarantine in a town in northwest China after a man died of pneumonic plague and 11 others were confirmed infected with the deadly lung infection, health authorities said.

The 32-year-old herdsman died in Ziketan in Qinghai province, the provincial health bureau said in a statement posted on its Web site Saturday. It did not say when he died.

England: Funeral planned

LONDON — The family of British novelist Stanley Middleton says he has died of cancer at age 89.

His family says the 1974 Booker Prize co-winner died in the central English city of Nottingham on July 25 — a week short of his 90th birthday. Nearly all of Middleton's 44 novels were based in Nottingham, though he often called the town "Beechnall." A funeral will be held Monday.

Honduras: Protester dies