IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United Kingdom

First birthday for Prince George

Britain's Prince George celebrates his first birthday on Tuesday, capping a year in which the globe-trotting infant became the trendsetting face of the modern royal family. The young prince will be given a low-key party at the family home at Kensington Palace, in keeping with the wishes of his parents, William and Kate, to keep their firstborn out of the media glare. The royals released a new photograph of George on Saturday showing how much he has grown.

Afghanistan

Vote auditing suspended

Vote auditing of the Afghan presidential runoff was suspended on Sunday, local media reported. "The process of auditing the votes cast in the presidential runoff was suspended on Sunday due to differences between the observers of Abdullah Abdullah's team with Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai over auditing votes in some ballot boxes," Tolo television reported. The Afghan presidential runoff was held on June 14 between Abdullah and Ghani Ahmadzai. However, Abdullah has accused the election commissions of committing fraud and demanded auditing of the votes be in the presence of international observers, including the UN.

Indonesia

Leader: Election was democratic

Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged Indonesians on Sunday to "safeguard the final chapter" of the country's presidential election, saying the July 9 vote was democratic and peaceful. Yudhoyono made the comments at a meeting with presidential candidates Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, who indicated earlier on Sunday they would not accept the official outcome of the hotly contested vote due to alleged cheating.

Libya

Airport suffers 'heaviest' assault

Islamist militiamen stepped up their assault on Libya's main airport on Sunday, two days after the collapse of a truce with rival ex-rebels who control the facility, a security official said. Local residents said the upsurge in violence killed at least one civilian when a rocket hit a house in the capital's Qasr Ben Gheshir district near Tripoli International Airport. "The airport was attacked this morning with mortar rounds, rockets and tank fire," airport security official Al-Jilani al-Dahesh said." It was the most intense bombardment so far."

AFP - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 07/21/2014 page12)