World Briefs

CHINA A much-shared online post about a city woman’s horror at the squalor of her boyfriend’s hometown turned out to be fake, but revealed volumes about China’s urban-rural divide — a split the country’s leadership has vowed to address.
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IVORY COAST Assailants opened fire on beachgoers yesterday in Grand-Bassam, a historic resort town near the capital, sending tourists fleeing through hotels. Photos posted to social media apparently taken at the scene showed bodies sprawled on the beach. Officials did not say immediately how many were killed. Security forces responded as the area was evacuated and residents hid in their homes.

BRAZIL Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians gathered yesterday to protest political corruption, a weak economy, and to call for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff on a day that could build momentum for efforts to oust her.

VENEZUELA Hundreds of opponents and supporters of President Nicolas Maduro held rival marches in Caracas on Saturday, with anti-government forces demanding Venezuela’s leader step down and his sympathizers denouncing U.S. sanctions on some top officials.

PAKISTAN Heavy rain has caused the collapse of a coal mine in the country’s northwest, killing at least eight miners and leaving another four missing and feared dead.

GERMANY Angela Merkel’s party lost support in three German state elections and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany surged as voters gave their first verdict on the chancellor’s open-border refugee policy, according to exit polls.

GAUTEMLA A judge has ordered the country’s former vice-president and her brother to be held in prison while awaiting trial for an alleged fraud that was supposed to clean up one of the country’s main tourist attractions.

SRI LANKA’s power chief resigned yesterday following a nation wide power failure, the third to be reported in the country within six months. The power cut which lasted for over 7 hours resulted in a water cut in several parts of the island and a disruption of services operated through electricity such as ATM machines and traffic signals. Local media reports said that the power failure was the longest to be reported in Sri Lanka in 20 years.