Briefly

INDIA

13 children drown as festival boat capsizes

Rescuers dragged out 13 dead children from India's Ganges river after an overloaded boat capsized en route to a Hindu festival, officials said on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing grief over the "deeply painful" tragedy. The boat overturned late on Tuesday in Vaishali district in the eastern Bihar state, with locals rushing to pull people out of water in the dark using mobile phones to find the bodies. Six people were pulled out alive, including two children reported to be in critical condition. "The loss of lives in the boat capsizing incident in Vaishali, Bihar, is deeply painful," Modi said in a statement on Wednesday, announcing compensation for their families.

RUSSIA

Japanese journalist held on espionage charges

Russia said on Tuesday it had detained a Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage and accused Tokyo of using media correspondents to gather intelligence. The Russian Foreign Ministry identified the reporter as Yuki Imai from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, with a spokeswoman saying he was accused of "conducting espionage activities on Russian territory". On Wednesday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said European Affairs Bureau official Kimitake Nakamura summoned the Russian ambassador, Nikolay Nozdrev.

UNITED STATES

Greece ambassador ousted over misconduct

The White House has asked US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign amid allegations of misconduct, press secretary Katie Zacharia said on Tuesday. "We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign," Zacharia said at her first White House news briefing. "She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well." The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Guilfoyle had asked a Trump donor to pay a $100,000 American Express bill days before her confirmation hearing. The Journal also reported that she had taken luxury trips funded by wealthy Greek businessmen. "She was doing a good job, but we didn't like what we were reading," Trump told reporters after the announcement.

DR CONGO

Confirmed cases of Ebola exceed 9,000

The worst Ebola outbreak ever in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has passed the 9,000-case mark, with the number of deaths exceeding 4,000 since early October, health authorities said on Tuesday. The current outbreak has infected 9,066 people so far and caused 4,381 deaths, a fatality rate of 48.3 percent, according to a new report from the DR Congo's National Public Health Institute. Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes severe hemorrhagic fever, has claimed more than 15,000 lives in Africa over the past 50 years. In the latest outbreak, 2,389 recoveries have been reported.

AGENCIES-XINHUA