KALIKOT BUS ACCIDENT INCREAES TO 29 Kathmandu, 11 Sept. Death toll in Monday night’s Kalikot bus accident has increased to 30, district officials said. Many of the seriously injured have been airlifted to Nepalgunj for medical treatment. Nnnn CHINA’S LEADER IN-WAITING SICK Kathmandu, 11 Sept.: China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping, who has set off a storm of rumours after not showing up at scheduled public events for over a week, is nursing an ailment, possibly a back injury suffered while swimming, sources said on Tuesday, Reuters reports from Beijing.. Xi, who is due to take over the presidency of the world's second-largest economy in March next year, has skipped several meetings with visiting foreign leaders and dignitaries over the past week, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the premiers of Singapore and Denmark. China's government, however, has declined to spell out what is ailing Xi, 59 - in keeping with decades of official secrecy over the health of senior leaders, a tradition viewed in the West as out of step with a modern state and emerging superpower. "Xi injured his back when he went for his daily swim," a source close to the Beijing leadership said after Xi's absence from the public stage was first noticed last week. At that stage, he had failed to keep scheduled meetings with Clinton and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The source declined to give further details on the injury, including exactly when and where the incident took place. Another source, citing people close to Xi, said: "He's unwell, but it's not a big problem." Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity. The lack of an official explanation has fuelled Internet speculation surrounding Xi's condition, culminating in some unusual questions at a regular briefing by China's foreign ministry on Monday. One of the queries concerned a rumour that Xi had been injured or involved in a car accident. "I have already answered reporters' questions on this many times," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters. "I have nothing new to add." Xi had been scheduled to meet visiting Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt on Monday afternoon for a photo opportunity, according to a media advisory that had been circulated ahead of the event. But the event did not take place. A Danish embassy official declined to comment. The foreign ministry's website shows Xi's most recent public appearance was at a ceremony at the ruling Communist Party's Central Party School in Beijing on September nnnn