France

Apartment fire claims 5 people

Five people, including a child, were killed and 18 others slightly hurt in a pre-dawn fire on Wednesday at an apartment building in the suburbs of the French capital Paris, rescue workers said. The five lived in the same flat on the fifth floor of the six-story building in a disadvantaged area of Gennevilliers, northwest of Paris, they said.

Thailand

British man killed at party

Police have arrested a suspect in the death of a British tourist struck by a stray bullet at a New Year's beach party on a popular Thai island. Police Colonel Krittakarn Kramomthong said on Wednesday that 22-year-old Stephen David Ashton was shot in his torso early on Tuesday morning and died at a hospital.

Syria

Clashes force airport to close

The international airport in Syria's second city of Aleppo has been temporarily closed due to repeated attacks by rebel fighters, an official said on Tuesday. The closure of the aviation hub came as government warplanes bombarded the outskirts of the capital and rebels fought off an army offensive on a string of towns along the Damascus airport road, a watchdog said.

Pakistan

5 teachers shot dead

Gunmen in northwest Pakistan killed five teachers and two aid workers from a non-governmental organization on Tuesday as they were driving home from work. The group's director said they may have been targeted for their anti-polio work. Militants in the past have accused health workers of acting as spies for the US.

Angola

10 die in rush to enter stadium

Ten people were crushed to death and 120 injured in the Angolan capital Luanda as they tried to enter an overcrowded stadium for a vigil organized by a Pentecostal church, the state news agency Angop reported on Tuesday. Angop cited an emergency services spokesman as saying the victims were crushed at the gates of the Cidadela Desportiva stadium.

AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 01/03/2013 page4)