Briefly

FRANCE

Police, protesters clash for third night

Paris police clashed with demonstrators for the third night on Saturday as thousands of people marched throughout the country amid anger at the government pushing through a rise in the state pension age without a parliamentary vote. The growing unrest and strikes have left President Emmanuel Macron facing the gravest challenge in four years. Authorities had banned rallies on Paris's central Place de la Concorde and nearby Champ-Elysees on Saturday night. There were 81 arrests on Saturday night.

LATIN AMERICA

15 killed as quake rattles Ecuador, Peru

A strong earthquake shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, trapping others under rubble, and sending rescue teams out onto streets littered with debris and fallen power lines. The US Geological Survey reported an earthquake with a magnitude of about 6.8 that was centered just off the Pacific Coast, about 80 kilometers south of Guayaquil, Ecuador's second-largest city. One of the victims died in Peru, while 14 others died in Ecuador, where authorities also reported that at least 126 people were injured.

AUSTRALIA

Millions of dead fish washed up by floods

Millions of fish have washed up dead in southeastern Australia last week in a die-off that authorities and scientists say is caused by floods and hot weather. The Department of Primary Industries in New South Wales state said the fish deaths coincided with a heat wave that put stress on a system that has experienced extreme conditions from wide-scale flooding. The deaths were probably caused by low oxygen levels as floods recede, a situation made worse by fish needing more oxygen because of the warmer weather, the department said.

Agencies via Xinhua