Thai’s two top officials killed in bomb blast

BANGKOK: A bomb blast killed two top provincial officials on Friday in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south, authorities said, a week after the kingdom held its first formal peace talks with rebels. The deputy governor of Yala province, Issara Thongthawat, was killed along with Yala permanent secretary responsible for security, Chavalit Krairisk, after a roadside bomb struck their vehicle, officials said.