Briefly

PAKISTAN

Building collapse in Karachi leaves 11 dead

A multistory building that was being expanded in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 11 people, including women and children, officials said. Several people were still trapped under the building's rubble late on Thursday. The building also fell on two nearby homes, causing casualties, police said. Salma Kauser, a health official, said hospitals received 11 bodies and 33 injured victims after the building collapsed.

MIDDLE EAST

Bakery fire in Gaza claims 10 lives

At least 10 people, including six children, were killed on Thursday when a bakery fire swept through a crowded market in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, health officials said. Nearly 60 others were injured in the fire, with 14 of them in a critical condition, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Witnesses said they heard an explosion come from a bakery in the Nusseirat camp in central Gaza before a blaze engulfed the bakery and quickly spread to nearby stores, factories and cars parked along the street. Authorities said the fire resulted from a gas leak.

AFGHANISTAN

Attack on Kabul rally leaves 18 wounded

Gunmen attacked a ceremony in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday where a top Afghan political leader, Abdullah Abdullah, was present but escaped unharmed. Eighteen were wounded at the event, according to Afghan officials, the first substantive attack on the capital since a troop withdrawal agreement was signed in Doha, Qatar, between the United States and the Taliban militant group, who denied responsibility.

UNITED STATES

Mars rover gets name ahead of July launch

NASA's next Mars rover finally has a name. Perseverance, a sixwheeled robotic explorer, will blast off this summer to collect Martian samples for eventual return to Earth. The name was suggested by Alex Mather, a Virginia seventhgrader, as part of a naming contest for US schoolchildren. The US space agency announced it on Thursday at Alex's school in Burke, Virginia, and he got to read his winning essay live on NASA TV. The rover is undergoing final preparations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The nameplate will be on the rover's robot arm.

Agencies - Xinhua