Briefly

SOUTH KOREA

Typhoon kills 4, suspends flights

SEOUL | Typhoon Kompasu struck South Korea Thursday, killing at least four people and toppling trees, streetlights and scaffolding in what was called the strongest storm to hit the Seoul area in 15 years.

Powerful gusts knocked over power lines, cutting off electricity to tens of thousands of homes and forcing airports to cancel or delay more than 60 international flights, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

Streets in Seoul were littered with tree branches. Some parked cars were wrecked by construction scaffolding knocked over by the storm.

Service on two Seoul subway lines and five railway routes was suspended, NEMA officials said.

CHINA

Lawmakers seek apology for Manila hostage crisis

HONG KONG | Hong Kong lawmakers passed a motion Thursday demanding that the Philippine government apologize and pay compensation to the families of eight Hong Kong tourists killed in a hostage bloodbath in Manila last month.

The deaths, after a 12-hour ordeal broadcast live on television around the world, triggered outrage in Hong Kong over the mishandling of the crisis and calls for an investigation into whether the hostages were killed by police or the hijacker.

The lawmakers’ motion asks for a thorough investigation and expresses “strong dissatisfaction at the serious failures” of the Philippine authorities. It also demands “a public apology and compensation to the deceased and injured and their family members.”

The Philippine government has admitted to making a number of errors in its handling of the crisis, which has chilled diplomatic ties with Hong Kong and damaged the Southeast Asian nation’s tourism industry.

AFGHANISTAN

Few signs of run on Kabul Bank

KABUL | Larger than usual crowds gathered to withdraw funds from Afghanistan’s largest bank Thursday, but there was little sign that questions surrounding its viability had sparked a major panic.

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