IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Dr Congo

At least 15 people killed by rebels

At least 15 people were killed on Saturday night during an attack by Ugandan rebels, the Allied Democratic Forces, in a peripheral neighborhood in the city of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a military source said. The repeated attack by the rebels is seriously complicating the response to Ebola, which has hit the DR Congo since August.

The Netherlands

Former PM dies at age of 80

Former Prime Minister Wim Kok, a trade unionist-turned-politician who inspired a new breed of pragmatic Social Democratic leaders who swept to power in Europe in the 1990s, has died at 80. King Willem-Alexander, his wife Queen Maxima and former queen Beatrix issued a statement Saturday praising Kok for his "integrity and talent for making complex problems manageable".

Ecuador

Wikileaks founder takes legal action

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange presented a protection action through his lawyers against the Ecuadorian government on Friday, accusing it of violating his fundamental rights and freedoms. The anti-secrecy activist, who has claimed political asylum at Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012, believes the "special protocol," issued by the Ecuadorian government outlining new terms of stay, is unjust.

Russia

Govt slams US over indictment

Moscow on Saturday condemned Washington for indicting a Russian woman for interfering in US 2018 elections, saying the accusations were fabricated in order to impose further sanctions on Russia. "We understand that Washington is fabricating a pretext in order to impose its notorious sanctions once more against our country," deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying in a statement.

United States

Trump to pick UN ambassador

President Donald Trump says he hopes to select a UN ambassador to replace Nikki Haley very soon and is interviewing five candidates for the job. Trump said he's interviewing three women and two men for the post. Asked if he would prefer to have a woman in the job, he said "Yes," later adding: "I think I might prefer that, but we'll see." Haley announced earlier this month that she was leaving the job by the end of the year. She is the former governor of South Carolina.

A special delivery for cancer patient

Julie and Rich Morgan grew fond of Steve's Pizza when they lived in Battle Creek, Michigan. They'd planned a trip to the restaurant for Julie Morgan's birthday in September, but Rich Morgan ended up in the hospital in Indianapolis and later in hospice care. Julie Morgan's father called Steve's Pizza this month and spoke with 18-year-old Dalton Shaffer, who offered to make the 362 kilometer trip to make the delivery and said he "just wanted to make them happy".

Xinhua - AP - AFP

(China Daily 10/22/2018 page11)