IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Pakistan

15 killed in battle for valley

Fifteen militants and one soldier were killed on Thursday when the Pakistani military mounted another operation in a week of fighting designed to seize control of a remote but strategic valley in the northwest, the army said. The military has faced fierce resistance from the Taliban and its allies in the Tirah Valley in the Khyber region.

Uruguay

Same-sex unions approved

Uruguay's Congress passed a bill on Wednesday to allow same-sex marriages, making it the second country in predominantly Roman Catholic Latin America to do so. Seventy-one of 92 lawmakers in the lower house of Congress voted in favor of the proposal, one week after the Senate passed it by a wide majority.

Norway

Teens return $81,500

Two Norwegian teens returned 467,200 kroner ($81,500) they found left on a train by an elderly passenger, Norwegian media reported Thursday. The pair found the treasure in a handbag left on the seat of a train between Oslo and a small town in southeastern Norway.

United Kingdom

Argentine leader not invited

Britain has decided not to invite Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to Margaret Thatcher's funeral next week, a government source said on Thursday, a snub likely to deepen a bitter diplomatic dispute over the Falkland Islands (called the Malvinas Islands in Argentina). The source said Thatcher's family had objected to Fernandez being invited.

Yemen

Al-Qaida leader slams Saudis

The deputy leader of al-Qaida in Yemen slammed Saudi Arabia's policy of allowing the US to launch deadly drone strikes from bases in the kingdom, calling on Saudis to revolt against the ruling family in a new audio message released on Wednesday. The statement appeared to back up al-Qaida denials this week that he was killed in a drone attack.

Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 04/12/2013 page12)