World briefs

CHINA Authorities say they’ve recovered the bodies of 12 people killed inside a hotel overrun by a landslide. State media reported yesterday that rescuers were able to pull out everyone trapped underneath rocks and debris after the Friday night landslide in Hunan province.

VIETNAM’s government will allow some citizens to gamble at select casinos during a three-year trial period, according to a new decree. The law, which goes into effect March 15, sets stringent guidelines for casinos applying for the trial license and Vietnamese who want to gamble.

PHILIPPINES government and Maoist rebels in the south of the country are closer to reaching a peace accord after both parties signed guidelines for a joint monitoring committee, according to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, the government’s chief negotiator in the talks.

AUSTRALIA Glass-fronted skyscrapers, super yachts and shopping precincts bustling with wealthy tourists – this is the vision for Australia’s latest USD2.3bn casino resort. 

INDIA An overnight passenger train derailed in southern India, killing at least 32 people and injuring 50 others in the latest accident to hit the country’s massive, disaster-prone rail network. Seven coaches of the Hirakand Express were thrown off the tracks around midnight Saturday, some landing on a goods train that was on a parallel track.

RUSSIA Giving one’s spouse a slap is nothing extraordinary for many people in Russia. This week, the Russian parliament is expected to take a step closer toward decriminalizing it altogether. Battery is a criminal offense in Russia, but nearly 20 percent of Russians openly say they think it is sometimes OK to hit a spouse or a child. In a bid to accommodate conservative voters, deputies in the lower house of parliament have given initial approval to a bill eliminating criminal liability for domestic violence that stops short of serious bodily harm or rape.

GAMBIA capital is awaiting the arrival of the country’s new leader and an era of democracy, hours after the authoritarian ruler flew of 22 years flew into exile with an extraordinary set of assurances from the international community.

Even as new President Adama Barrow remained in neighboring Senegal yesterday awaiting a triumphant return after a whirlwind political crisis, former leader Yahya Jammeh is guaranteed the right to come home.