IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Iran

Injuries after 4th temblor in 2 days

At least 79 people were injured on Monday when a magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook southeastern Iran, just a day after another quake injured nearly 290 people in the west, Iranian media reported. It was the fourth earthquake in Iran in two days. Rescue teams have been sent to 40 affected villages, Kerman province Red Crescent spokesman Hadi Soltani told the student news agency ISNA. On Sunday, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit western Iran, injuring at least 287 people, hours after two quakes struck Hormozgan province in the south, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.

Japan

Deadly heat wave grips region

The temperature in a city north of Tokyo reached 41.1 C on Monday, the highest recorded in the country, as a deadly heat wave gripped a wide swath of the country and nearby South Korea. The record was set in Kumagaya, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. A lingering high pressure system has brought record-high temperatures to the region for more than a week, killing more than 40 people in Japan and 10 in South Korea.

South Korea

Politician dead in possible suicide

A prominent liberal lawmaker embroiled in a corruption scandal was found dead on Monday, police said, in what appeared to be one of the country's highest-profile suicides in recent years. Three-term lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan was found dead near a Seoul apartment building on Monday. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him before he was pronounced dead, police said. Roh faced an investigation over an allegation that he received money from an associate of an influential blogger jailed over an online opinion-rigging scandal.

Afghanistan

Bombing in Kabul leaves 14 dead

A suicide bomber carried out an attack near the Kabul airport on Sunday, killing 14 people and narrowly missing Afghanistan's vice-president, who was returning home after living in Turkey for over a year, security officials said. The blast occurred near the airport shortly after the convoy of the controversial vice-president had just left the airport, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. He said 50 others were wounded.

United Kingdom

Men arrested over acid attack

British police have arrested three men in London after a suspected acid attack on a 3-year-old boy in the English city of Worcester. The boy was taken to hospital with serious burns to his arm and face after an incident at the Home Bargains store in Worcester, central England, on Saturday. Britain has seen a steep rise in acid attacks recently and the government is taking action to tighten sales of corrosive substances, particularly to those aged under 18.

Reuters - Ap

(China Daily 07/24/2018 page12)