Briefly

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

US envoy visits amid DPRK's 'crucial test'

Stephen Biegun, the United States' special envoy for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, arrived in the Republic of Korea on Sunday, as Pyongyang stepped up pressure on Washington to make concessions to revive stalled denuclearization talks ahead of a year-end deadline. His arrival came a day after Pyongyang said it made another "crucial test" at a rocket launch site to develop a strategic weapon to deter US nuclear threats. Biegun did not make any comments upon arrival at an airport near Seoul on Sunday afternoon. Biegun was scheduled to meet with ROK President Moon Jae-in on Monday, as part of his threeday stay before leaving for Tokyo to consult with his Japanese counterpart.

ITALY

City evacuates 54,000 to defuse WWII bomb

Around 54,000 people were evacuated from the southern Italian city of Brindisi on Sunday as experts worked to defuse a World War II bomb, authorities said. Corriere della Sera daily said the operation was the biggest peacetime evacuation in the country, with more than 60 percent of the city's residents forced to vacate a "red zone" in a radius of 1,617 meters from where the bomb was found. The British bomb, believed to have been dropped on the city in 1941, is one meter long and contains 40 kilograms of dynamite, authorities said. It was found by chance last month during refurbishment works of a cinema. The city's airport, train station, two hospitals were shut down as part of the operation.

NEPAL

Bus crash kills at least 14 passengers

A bus carrying Hindu pilgrims drove off a highway and crashed in Nepal on Sunday, killing 14 people and injuring 18, police said. The pilgrims were returning home after visiting the famed Hindu Kalinchowk Bhagwati temple when the bus veered off the highway about 80 kilometers east of the capital, Kathmandu, police official Prajwal Maharjan said. Maharjan said police were investigating the cause of the crash but the roads were slippery because of winter rain. The visibility was also poor due to morning fog. There was also a possibility of mechanical failure.

THE PHILIPPINES

Child dead as quake strikes Mindanao

A strong earthquake jolted the southern island of Mindanao on Sunday, killing at least one and causing a three-story building to collapse, setting off a search for people feared to have been trapped inside, officials said. A child was killed in a village in Davao del Sur's Matanao town when a wall of her house tumbled down as the ground shook and hit her in the head, officials said. The magnitude-6.9 quake struck an area about six kilometers northwest of Padada town in Davao del Sur Province at a depth of 30 km, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The area has been battered by a series of powerful quakes in recent months.

AUSTRALIA

Aircraft evacuated after smoke fills cabin

Passengers on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Perth on Sunday used slides to evacuate the Airbus A330 after it was forced to return as the cabin filled with smoke. In a statement, Qantas said flight QF575 to Perth returned to Sydney shortly after takeoff due to a hydraulic issue. "Once back at the gate, the captain made the decision to evacuate the aircraft as a precaution and three emergency slides were deployed," the airline said. Qantas said engineers were inspecting the aircraft, an Airbus A330-200 that can carry up to 271 passengers.