IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United Kingdom

Labour pledges to prevent no-deal Brexit

Britain's opposition Labour Party will do everything it can to prevent the country leaving the European Union without a deal, the party's leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday. Boris Johnson took over as prime minister on Wednesday with a pledge to deliver Brexit by Oct 31 "no ifs or buts" and the government is ramping up preparations for a "no-deal" exit. "We will do everything to prevent a no-deal exit and we will do everything to challenge this government," Corbyn told Sky News. Asked about the prospect of pushing for a no-confidence vote in the government, Corbyn said he would "look at the situation" when parliament returns from its summer break in September.

South Korea

Two dead in nightclub balcony collapse

Two people died and 16 were injured, including athletes taking part in swimming's world championship, after a balcony collapsed under the weight of partygoers at a South Korean nightclub, police said on Saturday. The balcony at the Coyote Ugly club close to the athletes' village was a mangled wreck after it gave way and plummeted around five meters onto people below, sending hundreds of terrified clubbers running to the exit screaming. Eight athletes including an Olympic gold medalist - US water polo player Kaleigh Gilchrist, who won at the Rio Games - were caught up in the tragedy. "We have a total of 16 injured and among them 10 are foreigners. Of the 10, eight are athletes participating in the championships," police said. Detective Song Gi-ju said the two dead were locals and not involved in the swimming championships, adding that police were investigating the possibility the balcony may have been illegally constructed.

Russia

Two killed in plane crash in Moscow

A single-engine aircraft on Saturday crashed into the Oka River in the Moscow region, killing two people on board, local media reported. The accident took place in the Oka River near the city of Serpukhov, 105 kilometers south of Moscow, according to RIA Novosti news agency. The two people on board, a passenger and the pilot, were confirmed dead, the emergency services of the Moscow region was quoted as saying. Earlier, media reported that the plane had crashed into a reservoir near Serpukhov. Twenty-six people with 10 pieces of equipment have been working at the site of the accident, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement. Investigators are establishing the causes of the accident. According to preliminary data, the plane caught on electric wires immediately after takeoff.

Italy

2 US teens jailed in Italy in police killing

Two US teenagers who were classmates at a California high school spent a second night in a Rome jail on Saturday after they were interrogated for hours about their alleged roles in the murder of an Italian policeman. Investigators contended in written statements that the pair had confessed to their roles in the grisly slaying. Vice-Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, a member of the storied Carabinieri paramilitary corps, was stabbed eight times, allegedly by one of the teens, leaving him bleeding on a street close to the teens' upscale hotel near Rome's Tiber River. Italian authorities identified the two as Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, and Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, and said they were born in San Francisco. Police said they were apparently vacationing in the Italian capital without family members.

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 07/29/2019 page12)