IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Afghanistan

Suicide bomber kills seven

A suicide bomber detonated a small truck loaded with explosives in southern Afghanistan, killing seven Georgian soldiers, NATO and Georgian officials said on Friday. Afghan Taliban fighters have claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened on Thursday evening in the Nawzad district in the battlefield province of Helmand, officials said.

Syria

Two journalists missing

French radio Europe 1 reported that two journalists working for the radio station went missing in Syria, while President Francois Hollande demanded their immediate release, French media reported on Friday.

"We have indeed lost contact with these two journalists, but we do not yet know the exact circumstances," said Hollande.

"I demand the immediate release of these journalists because they do not represent any nation. These are men who have worked so the world can get information. Journalists must be treated as journalists."

Hungary

People brace for record floods

Thousands of Hungarians feverishly worked through the night reinforcing dykes along the banks of the swelling Danube River, as Budapest braced for what Prime Minister Viktor Orban predicted would be record floods. Europe's worst river floods in more than a decade have already wreaked devastation in parts of Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.

United Kingdom

Prince Philip to have surgery

Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, was to undergo exploratory surgery on his abdomen on Friday after spending the night in a London hospital, raising fresh questions about his health. The Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 92 on Monday, was admitted to the private London Clinic on Thursday for what Buckingham Palace said was a planned operation under general anesthetic.

Egypt

Morsi rejects early vote calls

Egypt's embattled president is dismissing opposition calls for early presidential elections in a show of confidence ahead of his first anniversary in office. On June 30, Mohammed Morsi will mark one year in power as Egypt's first freely elected president following the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. In remarks to the State-run Al-Ahram newspaper on Friday, Morsi said the calls for an early vote are both "absurd and illegal".

Reuters-Xinhua-AFP-AP

(China Daily 06/08/2013 page12)