IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China

Xi meets visiting heads of state

President Xi Jinping met with visiting Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Shanghai on Sunday, ahead of the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Xi hailed the China-Cambodia and China-Kyrgyzstan friendships, calling on the two countries to boost their partnerships with China despite changes in the international situation.

DPRK

Apology for building collapse

An apartment building in Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, collapsed on Tuesday during construction, causing serious casualties, the official news agency KCNA said on Sunday, without giving the number of casualties or other details. Officials met with bereaved families and citizens in the district to express deep consolation and apologies, said the report.

Austria

No progress on Iran nuclear talks

The fourth round of Iranian nuclear talks ended on Friday in Vienna, making no tangible progress, but the talks will continue in the coming months, Iran's deputy chief nuclear negotiator was quoted as saying. Abbas Araqchi, Iranian deputy foreign minister, made the remarks after a three-day meeting with delegations of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) and Germany in Vienna.

Switzerland

Voters reject minimum wage

Swiss voters on Sunday rejected the introduction of a minimum wage of $25 an hour, according to an early projection by Swiss television. The Swiss have a history of voting against proposals they feel could hurt the country's economic success. Critics had said a minimum wage would hurt competitiveness and lead to job cuts. "There will be a clear 'no' vote," said Claude Longchamp of the gfs.bern research and polling institute. He said he expected a 'yes' vote of 30 percent or less, given the preliminary results.

Mali

Nation at war, PM says

Mali is at war with armed Tuareg separatists, Prime Minister Moussa Mara said, after officials reported the rebels attacked the governor's office in the northern town of Kidal on Saturday, abducting around 30 civil servants. "Taking into account this declaration of war, the Republic of Mali is henceforth at war," he said inside a military base in the town where he sought refuge from the fighting.

Xinhua-Reuters-AP

(China Daily 05/19/2014 page12)