IN BRIEF (Page 11)

China

Premier Li meets Paulson

Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday met with former US treasury secretary Henry Paulson. Li said both sides are facing new opportunities for development in light of an upcoming meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama. China would like to work with the United States to deepen cooperation in all fields, promote bilateral economic integration and create a mutually beneficial environment for the businesses of both countries, Li said.

Syria

Govt forces retake crossing

Syrian government forces on Thursday retook the only crossing along the Israel-Syria ceasefire line in the Golan Heights after it was seized earlier by rebels, an Israeli security source said. "The Syrian army has recovered control of the crossing. There are sounds of explosions from time to time but far less than in the morning," the source, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

United Kingdom

Compensation for colonial acts

Britain expressed regret on Thursday about the abuse of Kenyans by colonial forces during the Mau Mau insurgency in the 1950s and announced a compensation package for more than 5,200 elderly survivors worth a total of 20 million pounds ($31 million). The deal could encourage people in other former colonies to press claims over grievances dating back to the days of the Empire.

Nigeria

Pirates free oil tanker crew

Pirates have released five Pakistani crew members they kidnapped from an oil tanker off the Nigerian coast two weeks ago, security sources said on Thursday. Increasing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region is hiking costs for shipping firms operating there.

India

Rape suspects arrested

Indian police said on Thursday that they have arrested three men for allegedly gang-raping a US tourist in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh's resort town of Manali on Tuesday. All the three accused, including a truck driver, have been arrested for allegedly gang-raping the 30-year-old US woman tourist after she had hitched a ride in the vehicle while coming back after meeting a friend on the outskirts of Manali.

Egypt

Error caused balloon crash

A hot air balloon accident that killed 19 tourists in Egypt was caused by "grave" pilot error that caused a gas leakage, a police forensic report has found. The interior ministry report blamed the manager of the hot air balloon port and the pilot for the Feb 26 accident that killed Asian and European tourists.

AFP-Reuters-Xinhua

(China Daily 06/07/2013 page11)