Briefly

UNITED STATES

Shooting kills 2 at university

Two people are dead and one wounded on Thursday after a shooting at a higher education institution in the southern United States, officials said. South Carolina State University said the campus went into lockdown at 9:15 pm on Thursday after receiving a report of a shooting in an apartment at the Hugine Suites student residential complex. "University officials have not yet confirmed the victims' identities or the condition of the wounded person," the school said in a statement.

2nd aircraft carrier heads to Middle East

The US is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran, US media outlets reported late on Thursday. The USS Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships will be sent to the Middle East from the Caribbean, The New York Times, which first reported the news, said, citing US officials. The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal was not reached with Iran. The first aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East in January.

FRANCE

Households without power after storm

Around 450,000 households in southern France were without power on Friday, operator Enedis said, a day after a storm tore through the region, ripping up trees and flooding roads. High winds and heavy rain lashed southern France, northern Spain and parts of Portugal on Thursday, forcing cancellations of flights, trains and ferries and disruptions on roads. French officials said a truck driver was killed when a tree smashed through his windshield, while dozens were injured in weather-related incidents in Spain and a viaduct in Portugal partially collapsed due to flooding. French forecasters said the storm was "unusually strong" and France's electricity distributor said it had mobilized around 3,000 workers.

THAILAND

Pheu Thai Party to join coalition: PM

Thailand's Bhumjaithai Party, which won Sunday's general election by a wide margin, will be joined by the third-place Pheu Thai party to form a coalition government, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Friday. Anutin-led Bhumjaithai romped to a surprise victory on Sunday, securing 193 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, followed by the reformist People's Party with 118 seats and the populist Pheu Thai at 74, according to Reuters' calculations based on election commission data.

Agencies - Xinhua