IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Gaza Strip

Airstrike kills Jihad militants

Three Islamic Jihad militants were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, medical sources and witnesses said. Hospital sources reported that the three men were killed instantly when an Israeli aircraft targeted them in Rafah City. The men were identified as Ismail Abu Jouda 24, Shaher Abu Shanab 24, and Abdul Shafi Moamar, 33.

Venezuela

Student shot dead in clash

A student leader was fatally shot on Monday night in the western university city of San Cristobal after a long day of street clashes in which Venezuelan security forces attacked and dismantled barricades at key intersections, the mayor said. Local TV reporter Beatriz Font said there were unconfirmed reports of at least two others wounded by gunfire after dark in the city of 600,000 people, where student-led protests erupted last month and where anti-government unrest has been fiercest. The human rights group PROVEA tweeted that one student was seriously wounded by gunfire.

New Zealand

Citizens to vote on flag change

New Zealanders will soon get to vote on whether to change their national flag, which many view as a relic of the country's colonial past. Prime Minister John Key announced plans on Tuesday to hold a referendum within three years. His political opponents said they will follow through with those plans even if they oust Key in this year's national elections. The current flag includes Britain's Union Jack in the top left corner, which many say doesn't reflect New Zealand's independence. Some say the flag is too similar to Australia's.

Libya

DPRK tanker escapes escorts

A Democratic People's Republic of Korea-flagged tanker, carrying an "illegal" cargo of oil from a rebel-held terminal in eastern Libya, escaped the warships that were escorting it to port on Tuesday, MPs said. "The oil tanker took advantage of poor weather conditions to head for the open sea. The ships that were surrounding it were not in a position to follow it," said a member of the General National Congress, the country's highest political authority.

Austria

UN anti-drugs head lauds Iran

The UN anti-drugs chief has praised Iran's fight against narcotics trafficking despite what human rights groups describe as a surge in executions in the country, many of people convicted of drug-related offenses. Yury Fedotov, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said the Vienna-based agency opposes the death penalty, and he planned to raise the issue again with Iranian officials later this week.

Xinhua-AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 03/12/2014 page11)