IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Egypt

Tanker-bus collision kills 16

A bus packed with teenagers on their way to school collided with an oil tanker truck in northern Egypt on Wednesday, killing 16 people, police and medics said. The crash, near the Nile Delta city of Damanhur, injured another 18 people. The bus was carrying secondary school pupils, but medics were not immediately able to say how many of the dead were children because the bodies were so badly burned after both vehicles burst into flames.

Pakistan

Taliban threaten to attack India

A new Pakistani Taliban group behind this week's suicide bombing on the Pakistani-Indian border said on Wednesday the attack was as much aimed at India as Pakistan, suggesting that Indian targets might be next. At least 57 Pakistanis were killed during a popular flag-lowering ceremony on Sunday when a bomber tried to get close to the border in a possible attempt to cause casualties on the Indian side as well.

Malaysia

'Thorough MH17 probe needed'

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Wednesday stressed the importance of a thorough, independent investigation of the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 before any decision on where those responsible should face trial. The Boeing 777 aircraft crashed with the loss of all 298 people aboard, two-thirds of them Dutch.

France

Socialists urge Palestine vote

France's ruling Socialist Party wants parliament to recognize the State of Palestine, sources said, following similar moves by Sweden and Britain that have angered Israel. Palestinians seek statehood in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital - lands captured by Israel in a 1967 war.

AFP - Reuters - AP

(China Daily 11/06/2014 page12)