IN BRIEF (Page 11)

South Korea

Govt to wrap up rescue efforts

Recovery teams should try to wrap up their search for bodies from South Korea's ferry disaster by the weekend, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said on Wednesday, three weeks after the ship sank with hundreds of schoolchildren on board. With 35 bodies yet to be recovered, the moment is fast arriving when the authorities will have to make a call on stopping the underwater search in order to raise the ferry, which was carrying 476 people when it capsized on April 16.

Kenya

Toxic alcohol claims 63 lives

At least 63 people have died in Kenya this week and dozens more are sick after consuming toxic alcohol, police and hospitals said on Wednesday. Hospital sources said dozens more were receiving treatment. The towns worst affected are close to the capital Nairobi and elsewhere in the center and east of the country. In some areas the alcohol was bought from licensed bars and in others it was sold on the street in the slums, officials said.

South Sudan

President, rebel leader to meet

South Sudan's president and rebel chief will meet for direct talks on Friday in Ethiopia in a bid to stem a brutal civil war, mediators from the bloc of regional nations said on Wednesday. Mediators from the East African IGAD-bloc of nations said the "critical meeting will help end the violence and killings in South Sudan", and act as a key step toward finding an "inclusive and lasting political solution to the crisis", a statement said.

Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 05/08/2014 page11)