IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Sri Lanka

25 arrested for illegal fishing

Sri Lanka said on Tuesday that it has arrested 25 Indian fishermen who were fishing illegally in its territorial waters, just days after the two countries released hundreds of detained fishermen, and their fisheries ministers agreed to cooperate in combating poaching. Sri Lankan navy spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said the fishermen were arrested on Monday night in the island's northern seas and were handed over to fisheries officials.

Egypt

Morsi trial set for Feb 16

The trial of deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and 35 others on charges of espionage has been set for Feb 16, Egyptian judicial sources said on Tuesday. The defendants have been accused of collaborating with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and jihadists to launch a "terrorist" campaign inside Egypt, the sources said.

Iraq

26 executed for 'terrorism'

Iraq on Tuesday announced the execution of 26 men convicted of "terrorism", including a high-profile anti-Qaida militia commander whose arrest in 2009 prompted fierce street battles in Baghdad. The executions come a week after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki publicly rebuked Ban Ki-moon over the UN chief's call for a moratorium.

Netherlands

Australia defends raid

Australia on Tuesday defended its agents' raid on the office of a lawyer for East Timor last month as a legitimate defense of Australian national security. East Timor is asking the United Nations' highest court to order Australia to hand to the court documents and data seized in the raid in Canberra pending the resolution of a case into the legality of the raid.

UAE

30 sentenced to prison terms

The highest court in the United Arab Emirates convicted 30 men, most of them Egyptian, of setting up an illegal Muslim Brotherhood branch in the Arab Gulf country, and sentenced them on Tuesday to prison terms ranging from three months to five years, according to state media reports and rights groups.

Lebanon

Suicide bomber kills at least 5

A suicide bombing rocked Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, killing five people and injuring 35 others. According to the state-run National News Agency, five people, including two women, were killed, and 35 were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up. Firefighters rushed to the district to douse a fire that had engulfed several cars and gutted the facade of a residential building.

AP-AFP-Xinhua

(China Daily 01/22/2014 page11)