IN BRIEF (Page 12)

GERMANY

Fire rips through bomb-littered forest

Firefighters on Tuesday were battling a huge forest blaze ripping through a former military training area littered with unexploded munitions dating back to the Nazi era. Backed by helicopters, army vehicles and police water cannon, they have been fighting the flames and evacuated 1,000 residents in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state. The acrid smell from the blaze, the largest recorded in the northeastern state, has drifted as far as Berlin, 200 kilometers away, as much of Europe swelters in blistering summer temperatures.

NIGER

Gunmen kill 18 in military camp attack

At least 18 soldiers in western Niger were killed and four others were missing after suspected extremists blew up two cars and fired on a military camp, the army said on Tuesday. The raid occurred on Monday near Inates, close to the border with Mali, where militants are active, and in the same region where an ambush by Islamic State group's West African branch killed 28 soldiers in May. Niger will host the African Union summit on July 6-9 less than 200 kilometers away in the capital Niamey.

FRANCE

Spanking children set to be banned

France's parliament was expected to adopt a symbolic ban on Tuesday on parents hitting their children, a practice which, though condemned by the United Nations, still enjoys widespread support in the country. The ban, to be put to a final vote in the Senate on Tuesday, would make France the 55th state to prohibit corporal punishment of children. It was expected to be written into the Civil Code and read out to couples when they exchange their marital vows. The newlyweds will be told that "parental authority is exercised without physical or psychological violence".

Agencies

(China Daily 07/03/2019 page12)