IN BRIEF

South Korea

Test begins on lifting ferry

Salvage operators began a test-lift of South Korea's sunken Sewol ferry on Wednesday, officials said, nearly three years after the disaster killed 304 people and dealt a crippling blow to now-ousted president Park Geun-hye. Emotional parents of victims - the vast majority of the dead in the country's worst-ever maritime tragedy were schoolchildren - urged people to pray for a successful recovery, which lies 40 meters below the surface.

France

Job scandal claims minister

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux stepped down on Tuesday following media reports claiming that he had employed his two student-age daughters as his parliament assistants. The resignation comes after an investigation began into claims that Conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon employed his wife Penelope.

Indonesia

Panic after Bali earthquake

An earthquake has hit Indonesia's resort island of Bali, causing some panic among residents, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.5 earthquake that struck at 7:10 am on Wednesday was centered 2 kilometers northeast of Banjar Pasekan, a town in the southeastern part of Bali.

Turkey

Tainted barbecue leaves 1 dead

One person died and nine others were hospitalized in Istanbul after a woman added a cheap synthetic drug into barbecued meat, mistaking it for thyme, Turkish media reported on Wednesday. According to the Hurriyet daily, the housewife found a bag full of bonzai, a synthetic drug, in her garden while collecting bushes for the barbecue. She mistakenly added it to meat she then served to her relatives in Ankara, the daily said.

India

Tiger crushed in bungled rescue

Indian conservation authorities are investigating the death of a tiger that was crushed by an earthmover in a bungled operation by rescue workers to move the animal back to a wildlife park in northern India. Officials questioned officials from the Corbett wildlife park, a local zoo and villagers to determine what caused the tiger's death.