IN BRIEF (Page 12)

South Korea

Mall fire kills four, injures more than 40

A fire in a South Korea shopping mall killed four and injured more than 40 others, authorities said on Sunday. Police suspected that sparks from a welding torch might have started the fire on Saturday in a kids' play area in the mall in Dongtan, a commuter town south of Seoul. Two of the four who died were builders and the others were a mall worker and a shopper. Most of the 47 injured complained of smoke inhalation. The play area was closed at the time of the fire.

Pakistan

Avalanches claim at least 13 lives

At least 13 people were killed and 20 homes destroyed by avalanches and heavy rain which struck northwest Pakistan on Sunday, officials said. An avalanche smashed into the village of Shershal in Chitral district, killing nine people including four women and four children. It hit eight homes at around 3 am, an official said. The region has been hit by heavy snowfall that is 1.2 meters deep in some places.

The Philippines

Duterte ends peace talks with rebels

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has scrapped peace talks with insurgents after both the government and the rebels called off unilateral cease-fires aimed at ending a decades-long conflict. Duterte had angrily condemned the insurgents for resuming hostilities, saying he was ready for a prolonged conflict. "I told the soldiers to prepare for a long war. I said (peace) will not come during our generation," he said on Saturday.

Qatar

World's longest flight launched

Qatar Airways launched the world's longest scheduled commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to Auckland taking off on Sunday, a company spokeswoman said. Flight QR920 left the Qatari capital at 5:02 am and was set to land in New Zealand at 7:30 am on Monday. The Boeing 777 flight was scheduled to take 16 hours and 20 minutes, pass over 10 time zones, five countries and travel 14,535 kilometers before reaching Auckland.

Chile

Wildfires mostly 'under control'

President Michelle Bachelet said the worst wildfires that Chile has suffered in its history are now mostly under control. Bachelet said on Saturday that for the moment there are no new blazes reported "and the rest are mostly controlled". But she said in her daily briefing on the wildfires "that doesn't mean, however, that we are letting down our guard".

France

250,000 homes no power as storm hits

Gale-force winds battered France's southwestern Atlantic coast on Saturday, leaving more than quarter of million homes without power, the national electricity grid Enedis said. National weather agency Meteo France said winds reaching speeds of up to 148 km/h had battered the coast and warned that in some places they could even reach 160 km/h.

(China Daily 02/06/2017 page12)