IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Nigeria

Govt 'willing' to talk with rebels

Nigeria said it was willing to talk to Boko Haram militants, as the United States sent its top Africa general for talks on the rescue mission of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls. The governor of Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, Kashim Shettima, confirmed that all of the girls shown in the latest video released by the militant Islamist group had been identified as students in the school attacked in Chibok last month.

Ukraine

Kiev hosts 'unity' talks

Ukraine launched Western-backed "national unity" talks on Wednesday, but without rebels, who are waging an armed insurgency in the east that threatens to tear the country apart. The discussions opened a day after rebels killed seven Ukrainian soldiers in an ambush, the deadliest single loss of life for the military since it launched an offensive against the separatists in April. European leaders have called for the talks, held under a road map drafted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to be as inclusive as possible.

Venezuela

Maduro vows closer China ties

President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday that Venezuela and China were at the forefront of building a multipolar world of peer relationships with new profit-sharing programs. "China practices international relations on the basis of equality. It shows that ... it is possible to build a new world power without the imperialist practice of colonization and domination," Maduro said during the television program In Touch with Maduro.

AFP - Xinhua - AP

(China Daily 05/15/2014 page11)