IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United States

Students' killer to serve life

A court in California sentenced one of the two men accused of murdering two Chinese students to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday. Bryan Barnes, 21, pleaded guilty to shooting Ying Wu and Ming Qu, two Chinese graduate students from the University of Southern California.

6 people treated in nuke site fire

Emergency crews battled a fire on Wednesday at a New Mexico site where the federal government stores its low-grade nuclear waste, including plutonium-contaminated clothing and tools. Six people were treated for smoke inhalation and released shortly after a truck hauling salt caught fire at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.

France

Mali mission to be extended

The initial six-month mandate for French troops sent to the Central African Republic to try and quell deadly unrest is "likely" to be extended, France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday. His comments came as the United States called for an end to the "cycle of violence" in a country beset by ongoing clashes between Muslims and Christians, sparked by a coup last year by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels.

United Kingdom

Commuters face strike chaos

Millions of Londoners faced another morning of travel chaos on Thursday as a 48-hour strike by London Underground workers angry at ticket office closures and job cuts entered its second day. Employees of the two main rail unions began the first of two planned 48-hour "tube" strikes late on Tuesday, leaving many people unable to get to work or forced to pack onto buses and mainline trains, or ride bicycles.

Nepal

14 die when bus plunges into river

Fourteen people were killed and seven were injured when a bus carrying local passengers plunged into a river in Western Nepal, local police said on Thursday. The bus plunged into a river in the Chidipani village of Palpa district on Thursday morning. The dead have not yet been identified. The injured passengers have been hospitalized.

Pakistan

Govt to hold talks with Taliban

Negotiators nominated by the Pakistani Taliban and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were scheduled to hold peace talks on Thursday, a member of the Taliban's nominated team said. Maulana Abdul Aziz, the prayer leader at Islamabad's Red Mosque, said the talks will be held at an undisclosed location.

AFP-Xinhua-AP-Reuters

(China Daily 02/07/2014 page12)