The World in Brief

2 Chinese accused of child sex abuse

BEIJING -- Prosecutors in Shanghai have formally arrested two people over child-molestation allegations, with state media outlets identifying one as a prominent real estate developer.

A brief notice on the Shanghai prosecutor's office's microblog said the Putuo district branch had ordered the formal arrest Wednesday of two people, identified only by their surnames, Wang and Zhou.

The official Communist Party newspaper Global Times identified Wang as Wang Zhenhua, formerly chairman of Seazen, one of China's largest developers. The company announced that Wang Zhenhua's son, Wang Xiaosong, had been appointed chairman after the father resigned "for personal reasons."

That announcement came on the same day that Shanghai police reported Wang and Zhou had been detained and an investigation opened into allegations that a girl had been molested at a hotel in Shanghai.

Police cited the girl's mother as saying that Zhou, 49, had taken her daughter from Jiangsu province to Shanghai on June 30. Zhou surrendered to police on July 2, a day after Wang, 57, was placed under investigation.

The Shanghai city's official government advisory body announced Monday that it had expelled Wang Zhenhua, depriving him of political connections that could affect any future prosecution.

Child molestation can be punished by up to five years in prison. Chinese media outlets in recent years have reported cases of children being attacked by teachers, relatives and neighbors, although a reluctance to report such incidents by children and their family members, and a lack of resources for conducting investigations, have limited prosecutions.

Mine in Mali hurts 10 peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations said 10 U.N. peacekeepers were injured, four seriously, when a vehicle hit a mine during an operation outside Kidal city in northern Mali.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the U.N. Mission in Mali was investigating the incident early Thursday involving the mine-protected vehicle.

He said the injured peacekeepers received medical care.

Mali has been in turmoil since a 2012 uprising prompted mutinous soldiers to overthrow the president of a decade. An Islamic insurgency and a French-led war ousted the insurgents from power in 2013, but extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State organization remain a threat.

The U.N. mission in Mali, with 16,000 troops, is one of the most dangerous for peacekeepers. More than 100 have died since it was established in 2013.

3 suspects held in foiled intrusion

BERLIN -- German authorities have charged three men with an attempted home invasion of a U.S. Army employee's residence that was foiled by the American.

Prosecutors in Zweibruecken said Thursday that the three men, whose names weren't released, were part of a group of four who attempted to force their way into the Landstuhl home in February.

They say the 41-year-old American fought off three robbers and forced them back outside, but a fourth pushed past him, ran upstairs to where the man's wife and three children were and attacked his wife.

Prosecutors say the man, a civilian employee of the U.S. Army's Regional Health Command Europe, heard her screams, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the burglar twice in self-defense while fighting with him. The wounded intruder fled and later died.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

A Section on 07/12/2019

Upcoming Events