IN BRIEF (Page 12)

South Sudan

58 killed in hospital attacks

An aid agency says health facilities have been attacked in South Sudan in contravention of international law since December, leaving at least 58 people dead, some of whom have been shot in their hospital beds. Doctors Without Borders said on Tuesday the attacks on the health facilities are denying medical assistance to hundreds of thousands. The group says that of the 58 killed,25 were patients,27 had sought shelter, four remain unidentified and two were government officials.

Afghanistan

Dispute delays election result

Afghanistan's presidential election result has been delayed for several days, officials said on Tuesday, as a dispute over alleged fraud threatens to derail the country's first democratic transfer of power. Abdullah Abdullah, previously seen as the front-runner, has said he would reject the result due to "blatant fraud", while his poll rival Ashraf Ghani said the election was clean and claimed victory by more than 1 million votes.

Egypt

Group claims palace blasts

An Egyptian militant group has claimed responsibility for bomb blasts near the presidential palace that killed two senior police officers and wounded 10 other people. Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, which has claimed previous attacks on police, said in a statement posted on militant websites hours after Monday's attack that it set a trap for guards at Cairo's Ittihadiya palace using new explosive devices that cannot be detected by ordinary equipment.

Iran

Arms ready for Iraq

Teheran has not received a request from Baghdad to supply it with weapons but is ready to do so if asked, Iran's deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday during a visit to Moscow. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Teheran had no plans to send troops to back government forces fighting the Sunni "terrorists" of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who have captured swaths of Iraq as well as Syria.

United States

NASA satellite launch delayed

The planned launch of a rocket carrying a NASA satellite designed to track global warming has been postponed. NASA writes in a tweet that the countdown was stopped at 46 seconds because of a failure in the launchpad water flow. The Delta 2 rocket was supposed to launch early Tuesday over Vandenberg Air Force Base.

AP - AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 07/02/2014 page12)