World news briefs

September 24, 1995
Web posted at: 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT)

French teen kills 11 before taking his own life

CUERS, France (CNN) -- A teenager in southern France beat his parents and his 11-year-old brother to death with a hammer and baseball bat before going on a shooting rampage with a .22-caliber rifle, killing eight others in random firing before turning the gun on himself.

At least seven other people were wounded in the unexplained weekend violence in Cuers, a town of about 7,000 people.

Uncertainty remains over future of European Union

ALCUDIA, Majorca (CNN) -- Two days of informal discussion among European leaders have failed to dispel doubts over the future of the 15-nation European Union.

Meeting on a Mediterranean island, union leaders promised to take in about a dozen new member countries from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, move toward a common currency, help rebuild the former Yugoslavia and develop a new relationship with Russia. Among points of contention: questions about how to bring about the common currency by the 1999 target date, and about how to deal with admitting countries whose economies are lagging.

A main theme of the summit was how to bring the union closer to its citizens, who tend to view it as an expensive form of government.

Typhoon Ryan hits Japan

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A weakened Typhoon Ryan swept through southwestern Japan before moving out to sea Sunday but the storm is expected to hit land again in northern Japan on Monday.

At least one person is dead and five others are missing after the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Honshu were pounded with strong wind and torrential rain that caused landslides and flooded hundreds of homes.

On Friday, Typhoon Ryan caused at least five deaths in Taiwan.

Volcano blows at ski resort

MOUNT RUAPEHU, New Zealand (CNN) -- Skiers and hikers were shaken Saturday when a volcano erupted at a ski resort in New Zealand. Mount Ruapehu shot ash, rocks and steam into the air and sent three mud flows pouring down the 9,000-foot mountain.

There are no reports of anyone hurt or missing but skiers were evacuated and seven hikers were rescued. The volcano on New Zealand's northern island last erupted in 1988.

Former senator nominated as U.S. ambassador to China

WASHINGTON -- President Bill Clinton has nominated fellow southern Democrat James Sasser to be the U.S. ambassador to China. Now the former three-term Senator from Tennessee must return to his former colleagues for confirmation.

"I think we (China and the United States) have an opportunity to put our relations back on a mutually beneficial level," said Sasser. Those relations have been strained recently by disputes over Taiwan, human rights and other issues.

Sasser, who has never been to China, said he is studying Chinese history and language. He would replace Stapleton Roy, who left the post three months ago.

Turkish coalition seems unlikely

ANKARA, Turkey -- A coalition government in Turkey seemed further from reality Saturday, following talks between caretaker Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the opposition Motherland Party (ANAP).

Ciller resigned from her post on Wednesday, and was asked by President Suleyman Demirel to form a new government. But Yilmaz was not optimistic after his meeting with Ciller.

"Ciller has not given us a coalition proposal," he said, "and she did not accept any of our proposals."

Ciller, hoping to avoid early elections by shoring up support for a coalition, was to meet next with social democrat leader Deniz Baykal, and leaders of the Islamist Welfare Party, the nationalists and the Democratic Left Party. Ciller's resignation was prompted by domestic security disagreements with Baykal.