Briefly

PERU

Fire in gold mine kills 27, officials say

A fire broke out deep in a gold mine in southern Peru and killed at least 27 workers during an overnight shift, according to Peruvian authorities. The Yanaquihua mining company said in a statement that a total of 175 workers had been safely evacuated after the accident, which happened late Friday or early Saturday. It said the 27 dead worked for a contractor that specializes in mining. Government officials said the cause of the incident was under investigation.

DR CONGO

Death toll from floods rises to 401: governor

The death toll from flooding that hit two villages in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo last week has risen to 401, provincial governor Theo Ngwabidje Kasi said on Monday. Torrential rain in Kalehe territory in South Kivu province caused rivers to overflow on Thursday, inundating the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi. The central government has sent a delegation to Kalehe and declared Monday a day of national mourning.

SERBIA

Education minister quits after shootings

Serbia's education minister Branko Ruzic submitted his resignation Sunday following two mass shootings, one of them at a primary school, that left 17 people dead, with the country's government urging citizens to turn in all their unregistered weapons or run the risk of a prison sentence. Ruzic was the first Serbian official to resign over the shootings. The violence, which also wounded 21 people, has stunned and anguished the Balkan nation.

JAPAN

COVID-19 legal status downgraded to flu

Japan on Monday officially downgraded the legal status of COVID-19 to the same category of seasonal influenza and relaxed other COVID-19 measures previously in place. The downgrading of the virus means it will no longer be in a special category equivalent to or stricter than Class 2, but is now categorized among Class 5 diseases like seasonal influenza. If there is in future a spike in cases of COVID-19 infections, under the new lowered categorization, a state of emergency will not be declared and people and businesses are allowed to make decisions by themselves on antivirus measures.

Agencies Via Xinhua