IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Iran

Earthquake in south kills 30

Iranian state TV says a powerful earthquake in a sparsely populated area in the south of the country has killed 30 people and injured 650. It said Tuesday's magnitude-6.1 earthquake centered in the town of Kaki did not damage the nuclear plant at Bushehr, a city on the Persian Gulf 96 km away.

Syria

Car bomb claims at least 15 lives

A suicide car bomb killed at least 15 people and wounded 53 in the main business district of Damascus on Monday in what the Syrian prime minister said was a response to army gains against rebels around the capital. The bomb near a school in the Sabaa Bahrat district set cars ablaze and damaged buildings.

South Sudan

5 peacekeepers killed in ambush

Five Indian peacekeepers escorting a United Nations convoy in South Sudan have been killed in an ambush by rebels, the Indian foreign ministry said on Tuesday. "Five peacekeepers from India with UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan), were killed in an ambush in Jonglei," Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.

Mali

France begins troop withdrawal

France has withdrawn its first batch of soldiers from Mali, the army said on Tuesday, as it begins to pull out troops sent to battle Islamist fighters in the West African nation. Paris is preparing to yield to a UN-mandated African force of 6,300 in the coming weeks.

United States

Ex-Mouseketeer Funicello dies

Annette Funicello, who became a child star as a perky, cute-as-a-button Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s, then teamed up with Frankie Avalon on a string of '60s fun-in-the-sun movies with names like Beach Blanket Bingo and Bikini Beach, died on Monday. She was 70.

Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 04/10/2013 page12)