IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Israel

Army strikes militant sites

Israeli military aircraft targeted sites operated by militants in the Gaza Strip early on Monday in retaliation to rockets fired into southern Israel over the past 48 hours, the army said. Pilots confirmed direct hits on two "terror sites" in central and southern Gaza, the army said in a statement, without elaborating. The rocket fire and the retaliatory strike came after weeks of relative calm along the volatile border.

India

Telangana now is newest state

Celebrations greeted the creation on Monday of India's newest state of Telangana, marking the formal division of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of people cheered as regional political leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao attended a parade soon after he was sworn in as Telangana's chief minister. Rao led a 14-year struggle for the creation of the state, with the information technology and industrial hub of Hyderabad as its capital.

Sudan

Fighting claims at least 41 lives

At least 41 people have been killed in clashes between rival Sudanese clans over the ownership of land being explored for oil in West Kordofan state, a tribal source said. Another 13 people were seriously wounded in the fighting that raged through Sunday between the Zurug and Awlad Amran clans of the powerful Misseriya tribe, the source told AFP.

Libya

Benghazi clashes leave 18 dead

The death toll in heavy fighting between the Libyan army and Islamist militants in eastern Benghazi has risen to 18, hospital doctors said on Monday. They said about 30 people had been wounded during clashes that started at dawn and were still raging through parts of the port city by midday.

Austria

IAEA praises Iran's openness

The UN nuclear watchdog chief praised Iran on Monday for showing increased openness about its disputed nuclear program but made clear Teheran must do more to fully address questions about suspected atomic bomb research. Yukiya Amano's statement is likely to be seen as cautiously positive by the six world powers that are aiming to negotiate a final accord with the Islamic Republic by a July 20 deadline to settle a decade-old standoff over its atomic activities.

Syria

Bombing kills 10 in Homs

At least 10 people were killed and many others wounded on Monday, when a tractor dragging an explosive-packed water tank exploded in the countryside of the central province of Homs, according to the official SANA News Agency.

XinhuA-AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 06/03/2014 page10)