The other news stories of the day in brief...
Derailed train's driver was drunk
BRAZZAVILLE – A train derailment in Congo that killed dozens and injured hundreds was the result of speeding by its drunk driver, the transport minister said, rejecting suggestions the track was faulty.
Isidore Mvouba also lowered the death toll from Monday’s crash to 55 from the 76 announced previously by state media after part of the train plunged into a ravine between the coastal town of Pointe-Noire and the capital, Brazzaville. At least 50 people were killed on the same line in 2001, many of whom burned to death, when two trains collided at Mvougounti, about 75km east of Pointe-Noire. – (Reuters)
Minister's aide killed in Athens bomb attack
ATHENS – The Greek cabinet minister in charge of the police force escaped unhurt yesterday after a bomb in a booby-trapped package exploded next to his office, killing one of his closest aides, officials said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast on the seventh floor of the ministry, which caused serious damage to the office of civil protection minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis.
“I lost a valuable and dear colleague,” Mr Chrysohoidis, visibly moved, told reporters outside the ministry.The victim, George Vassilakis, adjutant to the minister, was a father of two children. – (Reuters)
Japanese the most "holiday-deprived"
LONDON – The Japanese are the most holiday- deprived nation in the developed world, taking an average nine days off a year, while the French enjoy the most, averaging 34.5 days off annually, a survey found.
A poll of 9,000 adults in 13 countries by Harris Interactive for online travel company Expedia found Japanese workers not only got the least vacation time of about 16.5 days a year, but tended to use only about half of them.The US gave workers the second-least number of days off a year, averaging 17, of which most people would take 14, according to the “vacation deprivation” survey. – (Reuters)