Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1115 GMT, Aug. 27

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has expressed its concern over the death of a toddler due to gun-shot followed by a violent clash in western Nepal on Monday.

Two-year-old Tek Bahadur Saud was shot by the irate protesters at his own home on Monday noon, after the killing of seven police personnel in Kailali riot. (Nepal-Toddler-Death)

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MANILA -- Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., popularly known in the Philippines by his nickname Bongbong, has announced that he will seek a higher post in next year's national election.

"The discussions I have been having with different groups, with other individuals, have really centered on higher office," Marcos, 57, said in a television interview on Wednesday.

Asked directly if he would run for vice president or president, Marcos said, "It's extremely difficult to make a decision at this point." (Philippines-Marcos-Election)

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MANILA -- Former Philippine president Joseph Estrada on Thursday said the Philippines needs China's help to modernize the country, and expressed his hope that Sino-Philippines relations will improve in the near future.

"The Philippines needs China more than China needs the Philippines," said Estrada during an exclusive interview with Chinese media. (Philippines-China-Ties)

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ISLAMABAD -- An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Thursday issued unbailable arrest warrant for former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in a corruption case, court officials said.

Gilani and former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, along with some officials of the state-owned Development Authority of Pakistan, had been accused of approving and disbursing fraudulent trade subsidies worth millions of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated checks. (Pakistan-Gilani- Arrest) Endi