IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Slovenia

Country needs $68m in EU aid

Slovenia has asked the European Union for $68 million in the next six months to help handle thousands of migrants passing through the country. Prime Minister Miro Cerar said on TV Slovenia on Thursday that apart from financial aid, Slovenia has also requested police gear and personnel from the EU. He said several countries already have offered to send police, with Slovenia's force stretched to the limits. Cerar said that 13,000 refugees entered the small Balkan nation of 2 million in one day.

Middle East

Palestinians call for 'day of rage'

Palestinian factions called for mass rallies against Israel in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in a "day of rage" on Friday. The announcement came after world and regional powers pressed on with talks to try to end more than three weeks of bloodshed. Hours before, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the West Bank as the wave of violence continued. He was later shot and wounded by other troops, the Israeli military said.

United States

Clinton rides out marathon grilling

Hillary Clinton wrapped up 11 hours of testimony before US Congress on Thursday. For the most part, she deftly handled a marathon grilling by lawmakers seeking details about the 2012 attack that killed four US citizens in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton sat for four consecutive sessions in a packed hearing room of the House Special Committee on Benghazi, parrying accusations by Republicans that she did not do enough to protect the US mission in Libya. In her testimony, she accused her rivals of exploiting the attacks in Libya, which came under her watch as secretary of state, for political gain.

Indonesia

Warships to help 'haze' victims

Indonesia is preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate people suffering from choking smoke as slash-and-burn fires continue, a minister said on Friday. The country has been struggling for more than a month to contain fires that were started to clear forest areas for farmland.

Nigeria

Suicide bombing kills at least 10

At least 10 people were killed and 11 wounded on Friday in a suicide attack at a mosque in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state, hospital sources said. Borno state is the birthplace of the Boko Haram insurgency. It has been the focus of attacks by suspected members of the militant Islamist group that have killed around 1,000 people since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May.

United Kingdom

Telecom firm gets ransom demand

Phone and Internet service provider Talk Talk said on Friday that it has received a ransom demand after a "significant and sustained" cyberattack that may have compromised customers' credit card and banking details. The company said it did not know how much data was stolen in the attack on Talk Talk's website, but it was operating on a worst-case scenario in which "all of our customers' personal financial information has been accessed."

Reuters - AFP - AP

(China Daily 10/24/2015 page10)