IN BRIEF (Page 12)

South Korea

Coast guard in ferry rescue

South Korea's coast guard said it rescued all 163 people from a ferry that hit a large rock in waters off the country's southwestern coast on Sunday. At least six people sustained minor injuries. A coast guard official said the ferry's 158 passengers and five crew members were being taken to shore on four coast guard vessels and a number of civilian fishing boats. The rescue operation went smoothly because the ferry wasn't flooded and didn't lose its balance despite the crash off islands in Sinan County, he said.

Brazil

Eight killed in Rio police operation

Eight people were killed during a police operation on Saturday morning in the violent Rio de Janeiro favela of Rocinha, authorities said. The military police, currently operating across Rio de Janeiro state, said troops were patrolling two areas in the south and southeast of the favela when "they entered into a confrontation with criminals". Relatives of the victims told the local press that their loved ones had no links with traffickers.

Italy

Breakthrough as speakers chosen

With Italy still in political deadlock following the general election earlier this month, the two parties battling it out to head a new government reached agreement on Saturday on the respective positions of speaker for both the lower and upper houses of parliament. A member of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, Roberto Fico, was elected speaker of the lower house. Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, a member of Forza Italia, was voted head of the upper house.

Japan

Three die in mountain fall

Seven people fell from a mountain ridge on Sunday morning in Nagano prefecture, central Japan, leaving three killed and four injured, local police said. The seven people fell off the ridge when heading toward the peak of the 2,805-meter high Mount Amida of the Yatsugatake mountains, local media quoted the police as saying. The seven people were roped together climbing the mountain when the incident happened, said the media reports.

Libya

Two 'terrorists' killed in air strike

US forces said they had killed "two terrorists" in an air strike in southwestern Libya on Saturday as part of efforts to deny militants a safe haven in the country's vast desert. The strike hit on the outskirts of the city of Ubari and was carried out in coordination with the internationally recognized Government of National Accord in Tripoli, the US Africa Command said in a statement. "At this time, we assess no civilians were killed in this strike," the statement said.

(China Daily 03/26/2018 page12)