IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Syria

Assad still wants political solution

President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday his government is still pursuing a political solution for Syria's rebel-held southwest, but will use military force if this fails. "We are giving the political process a chance. If that doesn't succeed, we have no other option but to liberate it by force," Assad said in an interview with Iranian channel al-Alam News published in an English translation by Syrian state news agency SANA.

India

Rumors fuel deadly mob attacks

Fueled by rumors of child kidnappers and spread on social media, mobs have killed more than a dozen people in attacks since early May. There was no truth to the rumors, police said, but fear ignited by those messages led to the brutal deaths last week of two Indian tourists. Experts point to all sorts of reasons to explain the attacks. They cite everything from the power of social media to India's hobbled school system. There is also widespread distrust of the police and the courts, both of which are burdened by corruption and poor training, that leads people to take the law into their own hands.

Reuters - Ap

(China Daily 06/15/2018 page12)