WORLD’S LONGEST BULLET TRAIN SERVICE LAUNCHED IN CHINA
BEIJING: China launched service on Wednesday on the world’s longest high-speed rail route, the latest milestone in the country’s rapid and super fast rail network.

The opening of the new 2,298-kilometer line between Beijing and Guangzhou means passengers will be whisked from the capital to the southern commercial hub in just eight hours, compared with the 22 hours previously required.

CHINA SUSPENDS OFFICIALS AFTER 11 KIDS DIE IN ROAD WRECK
BEIJING: A city in east China suspended 12 officials on Wednesday, including a vice mayor, policemen and education administrators, after 11 children were killed in a road wreck involving an overloaded vehicle. The Monday accident occurred in Guixi city, Jiangxi province when the overloaded mini-van plunged into a pond as it was transporting the four to 6-year-old children to kindergarten. Kindergarten principal Zhou Chune, who was driving the van, and four other children survived the accident. Zhou has been taken into police custody. Locals complained that the police response to the wreck was too slow and could have contributed to the high death toll.

INDIA ANNOUNCES GANG-RAPE INQUIRY
NEW DELHI: India’s government ordered a special inquiry on Wednesday into the gang-rape of a student which sparked mass protests, as police announced the arrest of 10 men over another multiple sex assault. While a wave of angry protests over the December 16 assault on the student in New Delhi subsided, news of a Christmas Eve gang-rape in rural Tamil Nadu again shone the spotlight on the frightening levels of violence against women. The victim of the attack in Delhi is still fighting for her life while a policeman who was attacked during subsequent protests died of his injuries on Tuesday.

MYANMAR PROBES DEADLY PLANE CRASH-LANDING
HEHO: Myanmar was on Wednesday investigating the cause of an air accident that left two people dead and 11 injured when a passenger jet packed with foreign tourists crash-landed and caught fire. The incident raised fresh questions about the safety standards of Myanmar’s fast-growing aviation and tourist industries as foreign visitors flock to the country which is emerging from decades of junta rule. The ageing Fokker 100 jet came down in thick fog Tuesday in a field short of the runway at Heho airport, breaking its tail and catching fire, according to officials. AFP