IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Sri Lanka

Wickremesinghe becomes PM

Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in on Friday as Sri Lanka's prime minister after winning a general election, and agreed with President Maithripala Sirisena's party to form a national unity government to push ahead with reforms. Wickremesinghe, 66, took the oath of office in a Buddhist ceremony in the presence of Sirisena, cementing an alliance between the two, who fought off a comeback bid by ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Turkey

Military kills 771 Kurdish fighters

Turkish forces have killed 771 militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey in the past four weeks, state news agency Anatolia said Friday. The agency, whose figures could not be confirmed independently, said among those killed were 430 rebels who died in air raids on PKK camps in Iraq. Another 260 were killed in ground operations in southeastern Turkey, Anatolia said, quoting what it said were sources in military intelligence.

President calls for new polls

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will call a new election - likely to take place on Nov 1. - after the legal period for the formation of government ends at the end of this week. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has already abandoned efforts to build a coalition government, following the failure of talks with the leaders of two smaller parties.

Syria

5 reported dead in Israeli raid

An Israeli air raid hit a car in a village in the Syrian Golan Heights along the countries' border, killing five civilians, the Syrian army said. Syria television, quoting an army source, said the attack took place in a village near Quneitra but gave no further details. It comes a day after Israel launched strikes against Syrian army posts in the border area in retaliation for what Israel said were rockets fired from Syria into Israel by Palestinian militants.

Macedonia

Police fire stun grenades

Macedonian special police forces fired stun grenades on Friday to disperse thousands of migrants stuck in a no man's land with Greece. A crowd of 3,000 migrants who spent night out in the open made several attempts Friday to charge Macedonian police after the border was shut to crossings the previous day. At least eight people were injured in the melee, police said.

India

Report: Victims often know rapists

Almost 90 percent of rapes in India in 2014 were committed by people known to the victims such as relatives, neighbors and employers, government statistics showed. In its annual report, the National Crime Records Bureau said there were 337,922 reports of violence against women such as rape, molestation, abduction and cruelty by husbands last year, up 9 percent in 2013.

Reuters - AFP - AP

(China Daily 08/22/2015 page11)