IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Syria

Negotiating team named

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has put forward the names of five officials from his administration for internationally sponsored peace talks with the Syrian opposition, European Union diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. The list includes Prime Minister Wael al-Halki and more junior officials.

Iraq

Bombings claim at least 12

Several bomb blasts killed at least 12 people in Iraq on Tuesday, police said, a day after more than 70 died in attacks on majority Shiites, stoking fears of all-out sectarian war with minority Sunnis. More than 200 people have been killed in the past week as Sunni-Shiite tensions, fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria, threaten to plunge Iraq back into communal bloodletting.

Sweden

4 arrested after night rioting

Police have arrested four people after a second night of escalating riots in a Stockholm suburb, during which some 200 youths hurled rocks at police and set cars ablaze in anger over the fatal police shooting of an elderly man. Local police spokesman Jorgen Karlsson said seven youths were detained early on Tuesday, but three were released after questioning.

Tunisia

Man dies from SARS-like virus

Tunisia's Health Ministry says a 66-year-old man has died after being infected by a new coronavirus after a visit to Saudi Arabia. The ministry's statement reported that his son and daughter were also diagnosed with the virus but have been treated and since recovered.

Guatemala

Court overturns genocide ruling

Guatemala's Constitutional Court on Monday struck down the 80-year sentence given to former leader Efrain Rios Montt as well as his conviction for genocide and war crimes. The ruling, by three votes to two, annulled all proceedings that took place after the trial was temporarily halted on April 19 due to a technicality.

AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 05/22/2013 page11)