Briefly

PAKISTAN

Grenade attack at Karachi rally hurts 30

At least 30 people were injured in a grenade attack on a rally in Karachi on Wednesday, as Pakistan marked the first anniversary of New Delhi's revocation of India-controlled Kashmir's semi-autonomy. The wounded were rushed to different hospitals, where one was in a critical condition, an official from the provincial health department said. A grenade was lobbed in the rally, causing several casualties, Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said. The attack was claimed by Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, a separatist outfit that has become active in the past months. Kashmir is claimed in full by India and Pakistan, which have gone to war twice over it, and both rule parts of it.

UNITED STATES

17,600 inmates may be freed early

California officials have said as many as 17,600 inmates may be released early due to the coronavirus pandemic. That is 70 percent more than previously estimated and a total that victims and police said includes dangerous criminals who should stay locked up. However, prison officials said Corrections Secretary Ralph Diaz is likely to block the release of about 5,500, in part because many are serving life sentences. Early releases are causing consternation as probation officers and community groups scramble to provide housing, transportation and other services for inmates who may pose a public health risk because nearly 300 have been paroled while still contagious.

Arson in frame for 5 deaths in Denver

Five people were found dead on Wednesday after an early morning fire destroyed a suburban Denver home－a blaze authorities said they suspect was intentionally set. Three people escaped the fire by jumping from the home's second floor. Investigators believe the victims were a toddler, an older child and three adults, Denver Fire Department Captain Greg Pixley said. Their bodies were discovered after firefighters extinguished the fire, which was first reported by a Denver police officer at 2:40 am, Pixley said. Denver police spokesman Jay Casillas said the three survivors were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

AUSTRALIA

Jobless rate tipped to peak at 10 percent

Unemployment in Australia will peak at about 10 percent as a result of restrictions designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday. Australia earlier saw unemployment hitting a high of 9.25 percent this year. But after Victoria, the country's second-most populous state, ordered a six-week lockdown around Melbourne, unemployment will peak at about 10 percent, Morrison said. The figure would climb when the number of people receiving the government's wage subsidy scheme were counted.

DPRK

Ruling party to form new division

Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, presided over a meeting of the central committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, or WPK, on Wednesday to establish a new division and improve the ruling party's functions, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday. It did not give further details about the new department. Members at the meeting also heard a report on the anti-epidemic work and the situation in Kaesong City, which is completely locked down under the state's maximum emergency system, and decided to provide a special supply of food and funds to the city to stabilize the conditions for its citizens, the report said.

Agencies - Xinhua