Briefly

FINLAND

Ferry with 429 aboard runs aground in Baltic

A passenger ferry ran aground near islands between Sweden and Finland on Saturday, leaving 429 passengers and crew stranded for the night, the Finnish owner and Coast Guard said. The Viking Line's Grace, sailing between the Finnish port of Turku and the Swedish capital, Stockholm, hit rocks about 2:15 pm shortly before it was to stop over in Mariehamn, in the Aland archipelago, Finland's Coast Guard said. The cause of the accident was not immediately known, it said, but there were powerful winds in the region. There is "no water leak and no immediate threat" to passengers, the Coast Guard said.

AUSTRALIA

Man killed by shark at popular beach

A man has died after being bitten by a shark at a beach popular with tourists on Australia's northwest coast, authorities said on Sunday. Police were called to Cable Beach in the morning after reports of the attack. The man was pulled from the water and given medical treatment but later succumbed to his injuries. Shark attacks are rare on Cable Beach, a 22-kilometer stretch of pristine white sand next to the town of Broome. But authorities are generally forced to close the beach once or twice a year when saltwater crocodiles are spotted nearby.

Agencies Via Xinhua