World Briefs

CHINA Rescuers using infrared cameras at a wrecked mine found eight surviving miners who were trapped for five days after a collapse so violent it registered as a seismic event.

NORTH KOREA’s top official in charge of relations with South Korea, Kim Yang Gon, died in a traffic accident, potentially dimming the prospect for ties between the rival countries.

UK Heavy rains and gusty winds are causing more problems for residents in large swaths of Britain. Officials say 5,500 homes in Scotland lost power Wednesday as gale-force winds hit. About 3,000 homes in England and Wales were also reported to be without electricity.

JAPAN Mountaineer Kei Taniguchi fell to her death while climbing this week in the snowy Daisetsuzan range in northern Japan’s Hokkaido. She was 43.
Taniguchi, who climbed Mount Everest in 2007, became the first woman to win the prestigious Piolet d’Or (Golden Ice Axe) mountaineering award in 2009.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin, in a New Year’s message to U.S. President Barack Obama, has called for cooperation between their countries to respond to international challenges.

PORTUGALs central bank is imposing losses on some senior bondholders at Novo Banco SA, the good bank that emerged from the breakup of Banco Espirito Santo last year. The central bank ordered it to transfer about 2 billion euros (USD2.2 billion) of bonds to the bad bank, which is being liquidated.

SPAIN A judge has named Jordi Pujol, former longtime leader of Spain’s powerful northeastern Catalonia region, as a suspect in a money-laundering probe.
Judge Jose de la Mata summoned Pujol and his wife, Mercedes Ferrusola, to appear before the National Court in Madrid on Feb. 10.

USA Police in New Hampshire say four on-duty Secret Service agents have been involved in a head-on collision that killed the driver of the other car.
The accident happened in the town of Wakefield.

USA Bill Cosby was charged Wednesday with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home 12 years ago — the first criminal charges brought against the comedian out of the torrent of allegations that destroyed his good-guy image as America’s Dad.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC  Thousands in the country’s capital voted yesterday in national elections with hope that a new president will lead to greater stability after years of violence. Voters are choosing a president from a list of 30 candidates to replace transitional leader Catherine Samba-Panza, who was put in place in January 2014. More than 1.8 million people are expected to vote at more than 500 polling stations nationwide.