France

Building collapse claims at least 2

Part of a large residential building collapsed in the center of the northeastern French city of Reims on Sunday morning, killing two people and injuring at least nine, emergency services said. The cause of the collapse, which happened at 11:15 am (local time), was still unknown and there could be more victims.

Israel

Airstrikes target Gaza militants

Israel responded to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on sites used by Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory, the military said on Sunday. It said its jets struck "a terrorist weapon storage facility and a Hamas training installation" after rockets landed in southern Israel the night before.

Chile

3 surrender over ritual killing

Three members of an alleged cult accused of sacrificing a baby to save the world ahead of December's supposed Mayan apocalypse surrendered on Saturday, Chilean police said. Police were on Sunday still hunting for the alleged leader of the cult who is believed to have fled to Peru, after the baby's mother and three other suspects were arrested on Friday.

Pakistan

Bombs target election offices

Two Taliban bomb attacks on Sunday targeting the offices of election candidates in Pakistan killed at least eight people, officials said, the latest bloodshed ahead of polls next month. Violence has marred the campaign for the landmark May 11 general election.

Algeria

President suffers mini-stroke

Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was in a Paris hospital on Sunday after suffering a mini-stroke, raising media doubts about his ability to govern less than a year before a presidential election. The 76-year-old, who has been in power since 1999, suffered a "transient ischaemia" on Saturday.

Mexico

Prison riot leaves 13 dead

At least 13 inmates were killed and 87 others injured in a prison riot in the state of San Luis Potosi, north of Mexico City, said state governor Fernando Toranzo. Of those injured, at least 22 were hospitalized with serious injuries, Toranzo said.

AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 04/29/2013 page4)