IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United Kingdom

Spy chief knocks US social media

The new head of Britain's electronic eavesdropping agency says US-based social media have become "command-and-control networks" for terrorists and criminals, and tech companies are in denial about their misuse. Writing in Tuesday's Financial Times, GCHQ chief Robert Hannigan said British intelligence agencies know that IS extremists use messaging services like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp to reach their peers with ease.

Argentina

President stays in hospital

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was diagnosed with sigmoiditis, an inflammation of the colon, and will remain hospitalized for treatment, doctors said on Monday. "Complementary studies were run that confirmed the presumed diagnosis," the state news agency Telam quoted her medical team as saying.

DPRK

No talks with Washington

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea ruled out any dialogue with the United States about its nuclear program and human rights record on Tuesday, saying the US was trying to destroy its system. The DPRK "will never allow any human rights dialogue, or a nuclear one, with the enemy keen to overthrow it", a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

New Zealand

More couples do not want kids

Couples without children are making up a growing proportion of New Zealand's 1.1 million families, the government statistical agency announced on Tuesday. The trend has been seen since 1991, but since 2006 the rise in the number of couples without children has been nearly double that of couples with children, according to Statistics New Zealand. "Couples without children make up just over 40 percent of all family types, up from 35 percent in 1991," census customer focus manager Gareth Meech said in a statement.

Ethiopia

AU names envoy to Burkina Faso

The African Union has named Togo's former prime minister Edem Kodjo as special envoy to Burkina Faso following the popular uprising that toppled Blaise Compaore, a statement issued on Tuesday said. AU commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma named Kodjo as the pan-African bloc's special envoy late on Monday, after the AU's peace and security council gave the regime two weeks to return to civilian rule.

Xinhua - AFP - AP

(China Daily 11/05/2014 page12)