World briefs

ITALY Rescue workers on skis reached a four-star spa hotel buried by an avalanche in earthquake-stricken central Italy yesterday, reporting no signs of life as they searched for around 30 people believed trapped inside. Three bodies were recovered as heavy vehicles struggled to get to the scene. 

PHILIPPINES State negotiators and communist guerrillas are set to resume peace talks in Rome with the Maoist insurgents warning that alleged government violations of an accord on human rights may prompt them to end a months-long ceasefire.

INDONESIA A former Reuters war correspondent on trial in Indonesia on charges of possessing hashish faces up to four years in prison, a prosecutor said yesterday. David Fox, a British national, was arrested Oct. 8 along with Australian Giuseppe Serafino on the tourist island of Bali.

SOUTH KOREA A Seoul court denied a request to arrest one of South Korea’s most powerful men, the heir to the Samsung Electronics juggernaut, in a setback to prosecutors investigating an influence-peddling scandal that toppled South Korea’s president.

AUSTRALIA The leader of Australia’s most populous state resigned yesterday after his popularity plummeted over a series of decisions during 2016. Sydney-based New South Wales Premier Mike Baird used social media to announce that the ruling Liberal Party would elect a new leader at a meeting next week.  

IRAN A high-rise building in central Tehran engulfed by fire collapsed on yesterday, killing at least 30 firefighters and injuring some 75 people, state media reported. Iranian authorities did not immediately release definitive casualty figures, which is common in unfolding disasters. 

OIC-ISRAEL Foreign ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation yesterday indirectly condemned plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. A statement issued after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur rejected any actions that could undermine the Palestinian claim to part of Jerusalem.

BRITAIN-S. ARABIAThe British government says six U.K. citizens have been killed and others injured in a road crash in Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Office said yesterday it was supporting the families of the dead Britons and “helping several more British nationals who were injured in the crash.”

CZHECH REPUBLIC The country is one step away from losing its status of one of the last havens for tobacco smokers in Europe. The upper house of Parliament, voted 45-12 yesterday to approve a smoking ban in bars, restaurants and cafes. The lower house gave its green light on Dec. 9.