It's 15: 00 Universal Time and here is the news from the Voice of America. From the VOA News Center in Washington, I'm Frances Alonzo. Officials in Afghanistan say a suicide car bomber struck near a military base at the international airport in Kabul early Tuesday, killing three civilians and (wounding) six. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for that (blast) which also wounded an international soldier. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Election Commission says President Hamid Karzai has received 54 percent of the vote with nearly all of the ballots from the August presidential elections now counted. The (preliminary) results announced Tuesday show Mr. Karzai for the first time surpassing the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The (incumbent) president needs a majority of the votes to avoid a runoff with his top challenger Abdullah Abdullah. Officials in northwestern Pakistan say four high school students were killed by (militant) gunfire Tuesday in the Orakzai tribal region. Some local officials suggest the students were shot at because they were minority Shiite Muslims, a group that has been targeted by Sunni (extremists) in the past. China says it will sell $880 million worth of Yuan-dominated bonds in Hong Kong in what (analysts) say is a first step toward (widening) the use of the currency outside the country. Heda Bayron reports from Hong Kong. Starting September 28, investors in Hong Kong will be able to buy bonds issued by the Chinese government. It marks the first time that the Chinese government is borrowing money (offshore) and paying it back in its own currency. Kevin Lai, an economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong, says it is a step toward gradually widening the use of the Yuan, or Renminbi, outside China. Currently, the currency cannot be traded freely outside the country, and its exchange rate is (restricted) to a narrow trading band. "The next step will be an increase in Renminbi (liquidity) regionally, and at the end a step towards (internationalizing) Renminbi. The Renminbi has to be fully convertible at some stage. Building a bond center, or increase bond (issuances) for Renminbi is just one of those steps." Heda Bayron for VOA News, Hong Kong. China's health minister says the country is facing a (grim) situation as the number of cases of the H1N1 influenza are on the rise. In comments to reporters Tuesday, Chenzhu says the data from China's nationwide flu (monitoring) network show the virus has already taken root among some groups of people. South Korea, meanwhile, is demanding an apology and further explanation from North Korea after a (dam) in the North discharged a wall of water into a cross-border river, sweeping away six people in the South. A spokesman for Seoul's Unification Ministry says the South wants responsible North Korean authorities to apologize and give (sufficient) explanation about why so much water had to be released without notice on Sunday. Meanwhile, nearly 600, 000 West Africans are affected by floods following three months of rain. VOA's West Africa (correspondent) Scott Stearns reports. The latest United Nations (assessment) of West African flooding says more than 150 people have been killed - many in Sierra Leone-others there and in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Niger are also seriously affected by rising flood waters. Eight people are dead in Burkina Faso, where (meteorologists) say 263 millimeters of rain fell in just 12 hours, last week. Half of the capital, Ouagadougou, is affected by flooding that has damaged the university hospital. Yvon Edoumou is the West Africa spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "The hospital was one of the main hospitals in Ouagadougou where thousands of people were treated each day. So clearly that is the major concern for us. If you think in terms of just basic health services or even more (acute) health conditions, there is a fear that people who were there at the time of the flooding are not getting the treatment that they should be." More than 150, 000 people in Burkina Faso are homeless-many now living in schools and community centers. Scott Stearns, VOA News, Dakar. U.S. President Barack Obama will tell school children across the nation Tuesday to study hard and stay in school. However, the speech has drawn strong advance criticism from many (conservatives). Mr. Obama's talk at a high school near Washington will be broadcast live on the Internet and cable television. More at voanews.com. I'm Frances Alonzo, VOA News.