IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Iraq

Wave of bomb blasts claims 16

A series of bomb explosions in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul on Thursday killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens, officials said. Iraq is facing its most relentless wave of bloodshed since the 2011 US military withdrawal.

South Africa

Govt warns of possible attacks

The South African government is urging its citizens to be vigilant amid a possible resurgence of violence against immigrants. The Cabinet said on Thursday that early evidence suggested criminals were behind the violence and cautioned against labeling the recent wave of attacks as xenophobic.

Pakistan

Taliban pick new No 2 leader

Pakistani Taliban militants have chosen a new deputy commander to replace their previous second-in-command who was killed in a US drone strike in the North Waziristan region, sources in the militant group said on Thursday. The previous deputy commander, Wali-ur-Rehman, was killed in an attack by a US drone aircraft on Wednesday. The Taliban said the new No 2, Khan Said, 38, had served as Rehman's deputy.

Saudia Arabia

Australian jailed on terror charge

An Australian has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail on terrorism-related offenses, with his lawyer vowing to appeal what he claims was an unfair trial. Shayden Thorne has been held in a jail for almost 18 months, reportedly after a laptop, which his family says he borrowed from a mosque, was allegedly found to have terrorist material on it.

United States

Soldier to admit to Afghan killings

The US Army staff sergeant charged with killing 16 villagers in one of the worst atrocities of the Afghanistan war will plead guilty to avoid the death penalty in a deal that requires him to recount the horrific attack for the first time, his attorney said. Robert Bales was "crazed" when he slipped away from his Afghanistan outpost in 2012 and attacked mud-walled compounds in two sleeping villages nearby, lawyer said on Wednesday.

India

Train kills three elephants

A forest guard says a speeding train has killed three elephants from a herd crossing railroad tracks in eastern India. Sumita Ghatak, a district forest officer, says another elephant was injured when the train plowed into the herd early on Thursday in Jalpaiguri district, nearly 640 km east of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.

AP-Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 05/31/2013 page12)