IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Australia

Wreckage may 'reach Indonesia'

Australian authorities have alerted Indonesia that wreckage from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may wash up on its coastline. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the search off the country's west coast, said in its latest operational update on Wednesday that floating debris from the aircraft may have drifted away from Australia and toward Indonesia.

United States

The Simpsons sued for $250m

Goodfellas actor Frank Sivero is suing Fox Television for $250 million for allegedly ripping off his wiseguy cinematic character and using it on The Simpsons. According to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sivero also claims the producers of the hit cartoon series promised to make a film with him but reneged, and were simply using him to study his character.

France

Police deployed after clashes

France's interior minister said on Thursday he had dispatched 100 extra police to the port of Calais where an influx of illegal migrants trying to get to Britain is causing more and more havoc. The northern town has for months been struggling to cope with a steady tide of migrants desperate to cross the Channel to Britain, and authorities say up to 2,300 asylum-seekers are now living rough in Calais and surrounding areas - up from 1,500 at the end of the summer.

United Kingdom

Officers furious at killer release

British police on Thursday denounced the decision to free a notorious killer who shot dead two officers in 1966, calling it a "slap in the face" for the victims' relatives. Harry Roberts, now 78, and two associates were planning a robbery in a van in London when they were approached by three police officers. Roberts shot two of them and his accomplice shot the third, killing all three.

Mexico

Mayor accused of ordering attack

Mexico on Wednesday ordered the arrest of the mayor of the city of Iguala, his wife and an aide over allegations that they masterminded last month's attack that left six students dead and 43 missing. Authorities have searched in vain for any trace of the college students who disappeared on Sept 26, in a case that has sparked national and international outrage, including mass demonstrations that saw the Iguala city hall torched on Wednesday.

Turkey

200 Kurds enter Kobane

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he had been informed that agreement was reached for 200 Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters to pass through Turkey to help defend the Syrian border city of Kobane against Islamic State militants.

AFP - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 10/24/2014 page11)