Briefly

CHINA

Tanzania FM to pay official visit

Tanzania's Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation January Yusuf Makamba will pay a five-day official visit to China starting from Thursday. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin made the announcement on Wednesday at a daily news briefing. The year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tanzania. The two countries jointly upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in 2022.

SLOVAKIA

PM condition serious after being shot

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot and wounded in an attempted assassination on Wednesday, the government office said. Fico, 59, was rushed to hospital in the central city of Handlova after holding a government meeting there, and was transported by helicopter to the city of Banska Bystrica for urgent treatment, it said. The suspect, who was detained on the spot, is reported to be a 71-year-old man. Slovak President Zuzana Caputova condemned the attack as "brutal and reckless".

CANADA

Nobel-winning author Alice Munro dies at 92

Alice Munro, the Nobel Prizewinning author known for her mastery of the short story, has died at 92, her editor said on Tuesday. Munro set her taut, acutely observed stories in the rural Ontario countryside where she grew up, focusing a stark lens on the frailties of the human condition. Awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 2013, Munro suffered from dementia in recent years. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "The world had lost one of its greatest storytellers."

UNITED STATES

Report on Baltimore collapse released

The cargo ship Dali that hit and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in March had experienced a loss of electrical power and propulsion before the incident, according to a preliminary report released by the US National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday. The report pieces together a detailed timeline of events that occurred in the time leading up to the Dali striking pier no 17 of the Key Bridge, the bridge's subsequent collapse, and initial search and rescue and recovery efforts for the road maintenance crew members.

China Daily - Xinhua - Agencies