IN BRIEF (Page 12)

France

Govt suspends warship delivery

France suspended the planned delivery of a warship to Russia on Tuesday because of tensions between Russia and Ukraine, after months of growing speculation about what would be the biggest arms sale by a NATO country to the Kremlin. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said on Tuesday that Russia does not plan to file a claim against France after it delayed the delivery.

Pakistan

Suspected Ebola patient dies

A patient thought to have Ebola died in Faisalabad on Tuesday morning, hospital sources said. Zulfiqar Ahmad, 40, a resident of Chiniot district, Punjab province, had returned to Pakistan from Togo on Nov 16. If confirmed, the death will be the first in Pakistan caused by the Ebola virus, which has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Afghanistan

Woman kills 25 Taliban militants

A woman whose son was killed by the Taliban in western Farah province gunned down 25 militants with an assault rifle in a fierce firefight, local media reported. In an interview with Tolo television, the woman, who is in her 50s, said that she had no other option but to pick up a weapon after she found her son dead. She said her son was in charge of a police security checkpoint close to her home.

Yemen

Army attack frees 8 hostages

Yemen's Supreme Security Committee said an army attack has freed seven Yemeni soldiers and one foreigner kidnapped by al-Qaida's Yemen branch near the US military's al-Annad air base in the southern province of Lahj. A statement issued by the committee said troops attacked a hideout used by militants early on Tuesday morning, killing seven militants and freeing the eight hostages. A security official said the foreigner is a military adviser working at al-Annad base where US and European advisers are employed.

Japan

4 arrested for Buddha theft

Four South Korean men have been arrested in southern Japan on suspicion of stealing an ancient Buddha statue, police said on Tuesday. The suspects were found on Monday evening in possession of a copper Buddha statue that disappeared from the Bairinji temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki prefecture, said Keiichi Matsushita, a deputy police chief. The statue, which is about 10 cm high, was found in a paper bag carried by the suspects.

AP - AFP - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 11/26/2014 page12)