South Korea blaze kills at least 29
SEOUL, SouthKorea — SouthKorea’s government onFriday began investigatinga fire that tore through an eight-floorbuilding and killed29 people in the central cityof Jecheon in the country’sdeadliest blaze in nearly adecade.
Theblaze had been put out byThursday night, but the death toll could rise, as the authorities were still inspectingthe building in the early hoursof Friday morning.
SouthKorean President MoonJae-in was planning to visitthe scene where police andgovernment agencies launcheda joint inspection intothe cause of Thursday’s fire.
Firedepartment officials saidit likely began at the building’sparking lot. A Jecheon fire department officialsaid there was nothing so farto suggest that the fire had been deliberately set.
The fire left 29 others injured.Most of those who died werewomen who had been usingthe public bath on the secondand third floor, fire department officials said.
Itwas the country’s worst firesince 2008, when 40 peopledied at a refrigerated warehousein Icheon, near the capital Seoul.
Car plows into crowd
SYDNEY — Asport utility vehicledriven by an Australianman of Afghan descent witha history of mental illnessplowed into pedestrians inthe city of Melbourne on Thursday, injuring at least 19 people, four critically, officials said.
Victoria state police Acting Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said on Thursdaynight that early indications were the driver of the car,a 32-year-old Australian citizen of Afghan descent witha history of drug abuse and mental health issues was notmotivated by terrorism. Hesaid the ramming was being treated as a “singular” incident.
On Friday morning, however,Chief Patton said the manhad made several utterances while under police guard in a hospital on Thursdaynight, including mentioning poor treatment of Muslims,and that police were still exploring terrorism as a possible motive.
Pope prays for cardinal
VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis prayed Thursday for amerciful final judgment for Cardinal Bernard Law, presiding over the funeral rites fora man who epitomized the CatholicChurch’s failure to protect children from pedophilepriests and its arrogance in safeguarding its own reputation at all costs.
Ina final blessing at Cardinal Law’s funeral Mass at the back altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis blessed his coffin with incense and holy water and recited the ritual prayer commending his soul to God.
Many flock to Bethlehem
In the West Bank town revered as Jesus’s birthplace, hotels are at full capacity for Christmas despite simmering Israeli-Palestinian tensions over President Donald Trump’s labeling of nearby Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“Wehave not witnessed any cancellation since the Trump announcement and are100 percent booked for Christmas Eve,” said Palestinian Tourism Ministry public relations director Jeries Qumsieh. The Palestinian Authorityis anticipating a record 2.7 million tourists thisyear, a jump from 2.2 million in 2016.
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The Swiss division of J.P. Morgan “seriously breached” anti-money laundering rules relating to the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, Switzerland’s financial market regulator said. ... Didi Chuxing, China’s answer to Uber, reportedly received $4 billion in new funding from investors that include SoftBank of Japan and Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi state fund.