In the World

SOUTH KOREA

Fire at nursing unit for elderly kills 21

A fire at a hospital annex housing elderly patients in the southwestern county of Jangseong killed 21 people early Wednesday, officials said.

Twenty patients and a nurse died at the hospital, which specializes in elderly patients who suffer from dementia and palsy, and seven others were injured, officials with the Jangseong Fire Department said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of office rules.

The victims died after suffocating on poisonous gas, officials said.

There were 35 patients and a nurse on duty on the second floor of an annex of Hyosarang Hospital when the fire broke out, officials said. The fire was put out after about six minutes, the officials said. The cause was not immediately known.

- AP
EGYPT

Voting is extended

"Where are the people?" one talk show host on a military station shouted as Egypt on Tuesday extended its presidential election to a third day in an apparent drive to raise voter turnout and avoid an embarrassingly meager show of support for former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Scenes of empty polling stations drove Sissi supporters on the country's TV stations into a lather. - AP
IRAN

Calling Zuckerberg

A judge in southern Iran has ordered Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to appear in court to answer complaints by people who say Facebook applications Instagram and Whatsapp violate their privacy, semiofficial news agency ISNA reported Tuesday. It is highly unlikely that Zuckerberg would appear, since there is no extradition treaty between Iran and the United States. - AP