IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Bangladesh

Murder charges considered

Bangladeshi police are investigating possible murder charges against the owner of a shoddily built factory that collapsed nearly two weeks ago after the wife of a garment worker crushed in the accident filed a complaint. The legal development comes as officials said on Monday that the death toll from the country's worst industrial disaster had reached 645.

Italy

Ex-prime minister dead

Giulio Andreotti, a Machiavellian seven-time Italian prime minister who dominated the political scene for decades, died on Monday at the age of 94. Andreotti, a key figure in the once-dominant Christian Democratic party, died at his home in central Rome, according to his relatives.

Iraq

Blasts kill at least 11 people

At least 11 people were killed in three bomb explosions in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday, medics and police said. Iraq has become increasingly volatile with fragile relations between Sunni and Shiite Muslims under strain from the largely sectarian civil war in neighboring Syria.

United States

5 women die in limousine fire

A limousine taking nine women to a party erupted in flames, killing five of the passengers, authorities and the mother of one of the survivors said Sunday. The limo caught fire at around 10 pm on Saturday on one of the busiest bridges on San Francisco Bay, California Highway Patrol officer Art Montiel said.

AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 05/07/2013 page12)