Bangladesh

Factory disaster toll passes 1,100

The death toll from the collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh rose on Sunday after 15 more bodies were found in the rubble overnight, 19 days after the disaster struck. Senior government official Zillur Chowdhury told AFP that the death toll in one of the world's worst industrial disasters "stands at 1,125".

France

Second case of SARS-like virus

French health authorities said early on Sunday that a second person had contracted a deadly new SARS-like virus, after sharing a hospital ward with the first victim identified in the country. The virus, known as nCoV-EMC, is a cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which triggered a scare 10 years ago when it erupted in east Asia.

Italy

Coast guard rescues 139

The Italian coast guard picked up 139 people in two inflatable boats off the southern coast of Sicily, authorities said on Saturday, the latest in a series of clandestine arrivals of immigrants. Hundreds of immigrants, mostly from Africa, have been rescued in small, flimsy vessels while crossing to Italy since the start of the year, with numbers increasing since the beginning of spring.

Bulgaria

Authorities seize fake ballots

Bulgarian state security officers seized 350,000 fake ballots, prosecutors said on Saturday, a day before parliamentary elections which are likely to see no party win a majority, resulting in more political turmoil in the EU's poorest country. Prosecutors said the ballots were found at a printing house owned by the company of a local councilor.

AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 05/13/2013 page12)