IN BRIEF (Page 6)

India

Pipeline explosion claims at least 15

A state-owned gas pipeline exploded and burst into flames on Friday, killing at least 15, destroying homes and forcing the evacuation of neighboring villages in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, authorities said. Flames rose more than 25 meters into the air, scorching the tops of coconut and palm trees and sending dense black clouds of smoke into the sky, witnesses said. Villagers ran out of their homes and crowded the streets. Scores of houses and shops were gutted, officials said.

Tiger leaps onto boat, snatches man

A Bengal tiger snatched a man off a fishing boat in eastern India, dragging him into a mangrove swamp as his children looked on in horror, the man's son said on Friday. The attack happened on Thursday as Sushil Manjhi and his son and daughter were crab fishing in a stream in the Sunderbans National Park. The tiger leaped aboard the boat and clamped its jaws on Manjhi's neck, said Sushil's son, Jyotish.

Italy

'No investment' in Israeli settlements

Italy has advised its citizens not to invest in Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land, just days after France issued the same warning, Italian media reported on Friday. Foreign Minister Federico Mogherini cautioned Italians "not to get involved in financial activity and investments" in settlements in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, according to La Stampa daily.

Germany

Court frees alleged ex-guerrilla member

A German court has ordered the release of a French woman accused of involvement in a guerrilla group's murder of a conservative Chilean politician. Chile had asked Germany to extradite Marie Emmanuelle Verhoeven, who was arrested in Hamburg in January while trying to board a flight. Verhoeven allegedly was a member of the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front blamed for the 1991 slaying of Jaime Guzman, leader of the conservative Chilean party Independent Democratic Union.

Thailand

Warnings to grow on cigarette packs

A court in Thailand has given the go-ahead to a new regulation requiring packs of cigarettes to be 85 percent covered with graphic health warnings. Public Health Ministry executive Nopporn Cheanklin said on Friday that the change will take effect in September. Currently, warnings illustrating the dangers of smoking must cover 55 percent of each pack of cigarettes sold the country. Last year, the health ministry issued a regulation increasing the level of coverage to 85 percent.

Greece

Firefighters battle 80 forest blazes

Greek firefighters have been battling up to 80 wildfires across the country since Thursday which have caused minor material damages and the slight injury of an officer, Greek authorities said on Friday. Most of the fires have been brought under control, including the most serious on the outskirts of Corinth about 70 kilometers southwest of Athens, where a firefighter was injured and a house, a car and hectares of olive groves were damaged.

AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 06/28/2014 page6)