IN BRIEF

NEPAL

26 killed in bus mountain crash

At least 26 people died and 36 more were injured when an overcrowded bus veered off a mountain road in Nepal, officials said on Friday. The bus plunged off the road on Thursday near a village about 400 kilometers west of the capital, Kathmandu. The bus rolled about 200 meters down a slope before crashing into the Pasagad river. Accidents in Nepal are mostly blamed on poorly maintained roads and vehicle conditions.

JAPAN

Official fired over 'piggyback' gaffe

A senior Japanese politician criticized last year for being carried over floodwaters while inspecting deadly typhoon damage was out of a job on Friday after joking about the incident. Shunsuke Mutai, parliamentary vice-minister for reconstruction, in September visited a devastated town where 19 people were killed in Typhoon Lionrock. Mutai was seen being carried piggyback-style by a younger man over streaming water.

FRANCE

Most citizens against 'Frexit'

Almost three quarters of French people are against leaving the eurozone currency bloc and returning to the franc, a survey showed on Friday. The news is unwelcome for far-right leader Marine Le Pen who advocates a so-called 'Frexit'. About 72 percent of the French polled by the Elabe institute in a survey published in Friday's Les Echos newspaper were opposed to ditching the euro and returning to a national currency, with 44 percent saying they were "very opposed".

GERMANY

Strike causes Berlin flight chaos

Nearly all flights were canceled at Berlin's two airports on Friday due to strike action by ground staff, who want an increase in pay to $12.7 an hour from $11.7. At the German capital's main Tegel airport, 455 flights were canceled, and at the Schoenefeld airport on the outskirts of the city, a further 204 were called off, the DPA news agency reported Friday. The industrial action came as many trade visitors try to make their way home from the world's biggest tourism trade fair, the ITB, which will end in Berlin on Sunday.

Ax attacker held after injuring nine

German police have arrested an ax-wielding attacker believed to be suffering from mental health issues after he injured nine people at the main train station in Duesseldorf. According to a witness, the 36-year-old man from the former Yugoslavia jumped out of a train late on Thursday evening and started hacking randomly at people, leaving blood everywhere. Police said they believed he acted alone.

INDONESIA

Corruption storm engulfs coalition

Politicians with key roles in President Joko Widodo's governing coalition have been caught up in a corruption scandal in which officials allegedly pilfered more than $170 million of government money. The justice minister, the current speaker of parliament and provincial governors are among those named in an indictment presented to a special corruption court on Thursday.

AP-AFP-Xinhua-Reuters