Governor resigns over Russian mall fire

MOSCOW • The governor of Russia's Kemerovo region resigned yesterday over a mall fire that killed more than 60 people after a litany of violations in safety procedures left shoppers and children trapped inside the building.

Mr Aman Tuleyev, 73, said in a video posted on the regional administration's website that stepping down was the only course of action possible.

Last Sunday's fire, one of the deadliest in Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union, swept through a cinema complex and children's play area on the upper floors of the Winter Cherry shopping centre in the city of Kemerovo.

REUTERS

Couple get death for killing Filipino maid

DUBAI • A Kuwaiti court has sentenced a Lebanese man and his wife to death after they were convicted in absentia of killing a Filipino maid in a case that triggered a crisis between the Philippines and the Gulf state, Kuwaiti newspapers reported yesterday.

In February, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Filipino workers in Kuwait to return home over alleged abuses in the country following the discovery of the maid's body in the freezer of an abandoned home that belonged to the Lebanese couple. The murder was discovered more than a year after it had taken place.

REUTERS

Sweden's new eco-friendly aviation tax

STOCKHOLM • Sweden introduced a new aviation tax yesterday that will add an extra charge to all passenger flights from the country in a bid to lessen the impact of air travel on the climate.

All flights departing from Swedish airports will have an added charge of between 60 krona and 400 krona (S$9 to S$63), depending on the destination.

It will apply to everyone except babies in arms, flight crew, passengers stopping over without changing planes and - in some circumstances - those in transit to take another flight.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE