IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Burkina Faso

Leader resigns after protests

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore announced his resignation in a statement on Friday and called for a 90-day transition to "free and transparent" elections in the West African country, local media said. "I declare a vacancy of power with a view to allowing a transition that should finish with free and transparent elections in a maximum period of 90 days," said the statement, read on local radio by presenters. Huge crowds had gathered to demand the president's resignation after a day of violent protests and military takeover on Thursday.

Jerusalem

Israel reopens Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israel reopened Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday ahead of the weekly Muslim prayers. The compound had been closed following clashes sparked by the killing of a Palestinian by the police. The streets of East Jerusalem were calm ahead of the prayers at midday near the shrine, which is holy for Muslims and Jews alike. Violence erupted when Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian on Wednesday who had been accused of trying to kill a Jewish hard-liner.

Belgium

Three-way talks produce gas deal

Talks over gas deliveries and payments for the coming winter produced an agreement worth $4.6 billion, the European Union announced on Thursday. The deal settles the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute for now. Russia agreed to deliver gas to Ukraine on the basis of prepayments. Ukraine foresees a need to purchase 4 billion cubic meters of gas with $1.5 billion to get people to the end of this year. It is expected to use aid from the EU and the International Monetary Fund to make the payments.

United States

Escape systems in new rockets

Heeding a lesson from history, designers of a new generation of US rockets for manned space missions will include escape systems to give crew members a fighting chance of surviving a launch accident. The US space agency, NASA, bypassed escape systems for the now-retired space shuttle fleet, believing the ships to be far safer than they turned out to be. The illusion was shattered on Jan 28, 1986, when gas leaking from a solid-fuel booster rocket doomed the space shuttle Challenger and its seven crew members 72 seconds after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

India

Fetus undergoes heart operation

In a medical feat carried out for the first time in India, doctors at a hospital in Hyderabad performed heart surgery on a fetus in the womb of a 25-year-old woman, local media reported on Friday. The doctors at Care Hospital said they had to perform the surgery to correct a serious condition that is impossible to cure after a baby is born.

Xinhua - AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 11/01/2014 page11)