IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Nigeria

More than 65 killed in extremist attack

Suspected Boko Haram extremists killed more than 65 people in an attack on villagers leaving a funeral in northeastern Nigeria, state television reported on Sunday. It was the deadliest extremist attack against civilians in the region this year. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Boko Haram group and rival Islamic State in West Africa splinter group have often carried out attacks in the area. Muhammad Bulama, council chairman of the Nganzai local government area, said that 11 other people were wounded during the attack at midday on Saturday. He called it a reprisal after villagers and civilian self-defense forces fought off a Boko Haram ambush in the area two weeks ago, killing 11 extremists.

Japan

Govt to launch cargo rocket in September

Japan will launch a rocket equipped with an unmanned cargo vessel to the International Space Station in September, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said on Monday. The rocket will deliver about 5.4 tons of supplies to the space station, including food, water, batteries and tools needed for experiments, the agency said. The rocket will be launched on Sept 11 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima, according to the JAXA.

France

NGO files lawsuit over lead risks

A French environmental group said on Monday that it had filed a lawsuit accusing officials of failing to move quickly to contain the risks of lead contamination after the fire that ravaged the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris last April. Hundreds of tons of lead in the church's roof and steeple melted during the blaze, releasing toxic particles that settled on streets and buildings in surrounding neighborhoods. Authorities have insisted that any contamination poses no danger. But last week, city officials indefinitely shut two schools near the Gothic landmark after tests revealed high levels of lead pollution on a shared playground.

Germany

Boy dies after being pushed onto tracks

An 8-year-old boy was run over by a train and killed at Frankfurt's main station on Monday after a man pushed him and his mother onto the tracks, German police said. The accident happened when a high-speed ICE train was pulling into the station, one of Germany's busiest. The mother was able to escape but the boy was hit and run over by the train and suffered fatal injuries. The suspect then apparently tried unsuccessfully to push another person onto the track, police said. The 40-year-old suspect fled the scene with passersby in pursuit and was arrested near the station. He was being questioned and there was no immediate information on his possible motive.

India

'Definitely weird': man bites snake

An Indian man who was bitten by a snake got his revenge on the reptile by biting it back and killing it, the man's father said on Monday. The man, Raj Kumar, was relaxing at home on Sunday when a snake slithered into his house in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and bit him, said his father. "So, in turn, he bit it and chewed it into pieces," said the father. The man's family took him to hospital where media said his condition was critical. The snake that bit him was reported to have been a rat snake, which experts regard as usually not venomous. "This is definitely weird," said Raj Kumar's doctor, N.P. Singh. "I've seen people coming in with snakebites, but never somebody who bit a snake and then brought it with him in a bag."

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 07/30/2019 page12)