Briefly

UNITED STATES

White House launches official TikTok account

The White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, less than a month before US President Donald Trump's deadline for the social media app to either find a new owner or face a ban in the United States. The account posted its debut video on Tuesday afternoon — a 27-second clip featuring footage of Trump walking and interacting with his supporters, accompanied by audio from his acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. A few hours after the debut video, the account has garnered over 57,000 followers, while the TikTok account Trump used for his presidential campaign last year has more than 15 million followers.

AFGHANISTAN

Bus collision claims at least 79 lives

The deadly road accident, which occurred in Afghanistan's western Herat Province on Tuesday night, killed at least 79 people, including women and children, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Affairs Abdul Mateen Qani said on Wednesday. The bloody road mishap took place after a passenger bus carrying Afghan returnees from Iran collided with a motorbike and a mini-truck on a road linking the neighboring Iran to Herat city in Afghanistan on Tuesday night.

JAPAN

Fire breaks out on US naval ship off Okinawa

A fire broke out Wednesday evening aboard a US Navy vessel off the coast of a US military port in Uruma City of Japan's Okinawa Prefecture, local media reported. The Japan Coast Guard received an emergency call around 5 pm local time reporting that the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans, more than 200 meters in length, had caught fire, national broadcaster NHK reported. Crew members were conducting firefighting efforts and requested support from Japanese authorities, according to the report.

Xinhua - Agencies