IN BRIEF

France

Bomb explodes at Paris office of IMF

A letter bomb exploded Thursday at the French office of the International Monetary Fund, lightly injuring one person, according to Paris police. Staff from the IMF office were evacuated and armed military officers and police guarded the area, in a chic district of western Paris. The World Bank office in France is in the same compound. No other damage was reported in the explosion, according to a police official who was not authorized to be publicly named.

Britain

'Brexit' bill receives assent, becomes law

A bill authorizing Britain to start its exit from the European Union has received royal assent and is now law. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow announced Thursday that the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill has received the assent of Queen Elizabeth II. The bill was passed by Parliament on Monday but needed royal assent to become a law. Such assent is a formality no monarch has refused to sign a bill for more than 300 years.

United States

Suspects of Yahoo hack indicted

The US Justice Department announced on Wednesday charges against four suspects in the massive 2014 Yahoo data breach. The defendants used unauthorized access to Yahoo's systems to steal information from about at least 500 million Yahoo accounts and then used some of that to obtain unauthorized access to the contents of accounts at Yahoo, Google and other webmail providers.

Vietnam

100 kg of alleged rhino horns seized

Customs officers at the Noi Bai International Airport in Vietnam's capital Hanoi have seized more than 100 kilograms of suspected rhino horns imported from Africa. The haul of wildlife parts were discovered in two suitcases on board of a flight from Kenya's Nairobi to Hano. Anti-smuggling officers discovered two suitcase weighed 57 kg and the other weighed 61 kg. Both contained animal horns appearing to be from rhinos, they said.

Bangladesh

Fire guts hundreds of Dhaka shanties

A devastating fire swept through one of the largest slums in Bangladesh capital Dhaka early Thursday, destroying hundreds of homes and leaving thousands homeless. No casulties have so far been reported. The slum, called Korail-Boubajar, is a densely populated slum holding hundreds of thousands of residents.

United States

Sheriff seeks tips about couple slain

A husband and wife from Taiwan island found stabbed to death in their home in a well-to-do Southern California neighborhood in October were probably robbery victims, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said on Wednesday. Cheng Long Wang, 60, and his wife, Mei Chu Chung, 57, were found slain in their Diamond Bar home on Oct 20, 2016, after family members could not reach the couple, who immigrated to the United States in 2000.