IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Nigeria

Insurgent attack claims 142 lives

The death toll from an attack in northeastern Nigeria that saw insurgents dressed as soldiers set up checkpoints and gun down travelers on a highway has risen to at least 142, an official said on Sunday. "We recovered 55 bodies on Wednesday and 87 on Thursday," Abdulaziz Kolomi, an official with the environmental protection agency in Borno state where the attack occurred, told AFP.

Syria

West exploits deal, Russia says

Russia accused the West on Sunday of trying to exploit a chemical weapons deal with Syria to push through a UN resolution threatening force against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad's government has handed information about its chemical arsenal to a UN-backed weapons watchdog, meeting the first deadline of the US-Russia accord the UN Security Council is due to endorse.

Switzerland

Voters reject military draft

Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a referendum calling for an end to the country's military draft, with 73 percent voting against the plan, exit polls showed. Voters bucking a post-Cold War European trend against conscription was no surprise.

AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 09/23/2013 page11)