IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Thailand

Surrogate mom wants baby back

Thai surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua, who is raising a Down syndrome baby she says was abandoned by his Australian biological parents, said on Tuesday she would be happy to have the boy's healthy twin sister returned to her, especially after learning the father is a convicted sex offender. The Australian government is considering a response, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott described the case as "a tragic human situation". Australia's Nine Network television reported Tuesday that the father was a convicted pedophile. A police officer said on condition of anonymity that the father was a convicted sex offender.

Azerbaijan

18 die in region's surge in violence

Azerbaijan and Armenia are both reporting more losses in a sharp escalation of fighting over the South Caucasus region Nagorno-Karabakh, with 18 soldiers now confirmed dead. The Azerbaijani region and some adjacent territory have been under the control of Armenian soldiers and ethnic Armenian troops since the 1994 end of a six-year separatist war. Both sides report frequent shootings and attempted incursions along the cease-fire line, but the latest outbreak of fighting is the worst in many years. Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said Monday that 13 soldiers were killed in fighting that spiked over the weekend, while Nagorno-Karabakh's armed forces said five of its soldiers were killed.

United States

Girl, 3, shot by 5-year-old boy

A 3-year-old Colorado girl was shot and critically wounded by a 5-year-old boy on Monday with a handgun belonging to the boyfriend of the victim's mother, police said. Pueblo police said in a statement that a 9-year-old boy was playing with a handgun in the backyard of a home when he gave the firearm to the 5-year-old, who pointed it at the girl and fired, striking her once.

Afghanistan

Soldier kills 4 foreign troops

At least four foreign soldiers were reportedly killed when an Afghan soldier fired on them in a military center in Kabul on Tuesday, a source said. "An Afghan soldier guarding at the National Defense University opened fire after an argument with foreigners, leaving several Afghan and foreign military officers killed and injured," a source told Xinhua. "At around 12pm (local time), a terrorist wearing Afghan army uniform fired on personnel of academy as a result several people were wounded," the Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi said.

AP - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 08/06/2014 page12)