IN BRIEF (Page 12)

South Korea

Park angered by rumors

South Korean President Park Geun-hye hit out on Monday at "groundless" rumors circling her administration, some of which have touched on her personal life and triggered defamation suits against domestic and foreign media outlets. The latest allegation, made by the local daily Segye Times, is that a former Park aide Jeong Yun-hoe, who holds no official administration position, has been meddling in state affairs.

New Zealand

Pirate gangs still hold 30 captives

Pirate gangs in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia are still holding 30 hostages in illegal captivity, the New Zealand navy officer who has just ended command of a multinational anti-piracy task force said on Monday. Commodore Tony Millar, who had commanded the Combined Maritime Task Force's Counter-Piracy Task Force 151 since August, said the number of hostages had fallen from more than 700 a few years ago.

Russia

Hopes high for Iran barter deal

Russia hopes to sign a barter contract with Iran to deliver grain and industrial products to its southern neighbor in return for oil from the Islamic republic, visiting Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted as saying by Press TV on Sunday. "This question was raised. It will affect not only grain. There are broad lists of goods," Ulyukayev said in Teheran on Sunday, referring to a meeting earlier in the day with his Iranian counterpart Ali Tayyebnia.

Australia

Appeal made to beach baby mom

Australian police on Monday urged the mother of a baby girl found dead and buried at a popular Sydney beach to come forward, as the city reeled from its second case of abandoned infants in days. Two young boys playing at Maroubra Beach found the decomposed body in the sand on Sunday morning, a week after another baby was found barely alive in a drain in western Sydney. The naked baby's body was found buried about 30 cm in the sand. Police said on Sunday it was not known whether it had been stillborn or how it had died.

Egypt

Militants kill US oil worker

An Egyptian militant organization that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a US oil worker. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which now refers to itself as Sinai Province, said on Twitter on Sunday that it killed William Henderson. It published pictures of his passport and two identification cards. It did not say when or how it killed him.

Xinhua - AFP - AP

(China Daily 12/02/2014 page12)