IN BRIEF (Page 11)

France

Terror charges for alleged gun supplier

A man suspected of supplying the gun that was used in the shooting attack that killed five people near a Christmas market in Strasbourg was handed preliminary terror charges on Monday, according to a judicial official close to the investigation. The official said the individual appeared before a judge and was charged with criminal association with terrorists, as well as possessing and supplying arms in connection with a terrorist enterprise. The man is suspected of furnishing the weapon that alleged gunman Cherif Chekatt used in the Dec 11 attack, the judicial official said. He was remanded into custody. Chekatt, 29, died in a shootout with police in Strasbourg on Thursday.

Switzerland

Gender equality at work 200 years away

Women may be shouting louder than ever for equal treatment and pay, but a report out on Tuesday indicates that it will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe. The World Economic Forum report said there had been some improvements in wage equality this year compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade. But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education. At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.

United Kingdom

London mayor vows to boost pedal power

London Mayor Sadiq Khan launched a major action plan on Monday to promote cycling journeys in the city over the next six years, including the establishment of a revolutionary cycling database. Under the ambitious plan, London will create a unified, citywide cycle network with new quality standards, and tap cycling to help address poor air quality and congestion, improve its infrastructure to make cycling even easier safer and more accessible for everyone. The plan will also see the launch of a cycling infrastructure database, a comprehensive digital record of all cycling facilities on the streets of the UK capital, and the database will be made available to everyone, free of charge, through an open platform.

India

Baby among eight dead in Mumbai fire

A 3-month-old baby was among eight people killed in a fire at a Mumbai hospital, officials said on Tuesday, in the latest disaster to highlight lax safety standards in India. The blaze broke out around 4 pm on Monday on the fourth floor of a government-run hospital in the northern suburb of Andheri. The death toll rose from six to eight on Tuesday, a spokesman for the city's disaster management cell said. Another 140 people, including patients, doctors and nurses were rescued and were being treated at hospitals across the city, he said.

United States

Poacher sentenced to Bambi viewings

A judge in Missouri has sentenced a prolific poacher to repeat screenings of Bambi, the Walt Disney classic weepy about a fawn whose mother is slain by a hunter. David Berry Jr will be forced to see the animated movie at least once a month during his yearlong jail term, the result of what law enforcement officials described as one of their "largest-ever poaching investigations". Berry and two family members were arrested on charges of killing hundreds of deer over three years, according to the Missouri Conservation Authority, which announced the sentence in a Dec 13 statement.

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(China Daily 12/19/2018 page11)