Briefs | Authorities say Hanjin to resume work

South Korea’s top economic policymaker said yesterday that he expected Hanjin Shipping vessels marooned offshore of Long Beach, California, will be able to offload cargo this week.
Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said at a government meeting that he expects the cargo crisis caused by Hanjin’s slide toward bankruptcy will begin to ease this week, according to a ministry statement.
Local media reported that a South Korean court has asked Hanjin Shipping’s main creditor, the state-owned Korea Development Bank, for emergency funding.
Port workers in Busan and Hanjin Shipping labor union officials also held rallies yesterday, urging the government, creditors and Hanjin Group to save the shipping company.

Woman recovering in Thailand after cliff tumble

An American tourist was recovering yesterday in a hospital in Thailand after breaking her spine while tumbling down a cliff trying to escape from a man who allegedly was molesting her.
The 23-year-old woman was attacked last week in the southern seaside province of Krabi, a popular tourist destination, police said.
The woman told police that a man who offered to help guide her back to her hotel at night took her down a remote path and tried to remove her clothes. She said she fought back, biting his ear before running away, only to plunge down a 45-meter cliff. She was found by rescuers the next morning and is now recovering after surgery.

Shark attacks kitesurfing Aussie

An Australian man has died after a large shark attacked him while he was kitesurfing in New Caledonia, a French island territory in the South Pacific, marine authorities said yesterday. The 50-year-old man had fallen from his board Tuesday in a large lagoon near the northwestern town of Koumac when the shark bit deep into his right thigh.  The man, from near Perth in Western Australia, had arrived Sunday for a vacation that was due to last about 10 days and had booked a cruise on a sailing boat so he could do some kitesurfing.
The boat’s crew was not able to identify the species of shark, but said it was very large.