Ukraine

Military jets ready to counter rebels

Ukraine scrambled jet fighters to strike at rebel positions early on Saturday, after separatists resumed missile attacks on government forces near the frontier with Russia, the border guard service said. It was a night of violence in several areas of eastern Ukraine following a missile strike by separatists on Friday that killed at least 23 government servicemen, the military said.

Gaza

Death toll surpasses 120 in airstrikes

Israel pounded Gaza for a fifth day on Saturday, vowing no let-up in its air campaign to halt rocket attacks by militants; which has killed more than 120 Palestinians. A defiant Hamas fired more rockets into Israel as the Islamist movement rejected growing international calls for a halt to hostilities, insisting Israel must act first. Gaza medical officials said at least 76 civilians, including 24 children, were among the people killed so far.

Pakistan

3 dead in attack on army post

Militants killed a Pakistan army captain and two soldiers in an attack early on Saturday in a tribal region near its border with Afghanistan, an official said. Pakistan's army has largely cleared the Bajur tribal region of militants but its posts often come under cross-border attacks. In June, militants killed 20 soldiers in three attacks. Pakistani troops killed some 50 attackers in retaliatory attacks.

Afghanistan

8 civilians die in bomb blast

Eight civilians including five women were killed when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle in southern Afghanistan, local officials said on Saturday. The United Nations said last week that the Afghan war was inflicting an increasingly devastating toll on civilians, with the number of casualties rising by almost a quarter in the first half of this year.

Spain

Police find coke behind license plate

Spanish police said they have arrested five men suspected of transporting cocaine in a James Bond-style secret compartment hidden behind a car's rear license plate. Police said the suspects, a Spaniard and four Colombians aged between 31 and 44, used a remote control to open and close the compartment. The men were arrested after four households were searched and 5 kilograms of high-purity cocaine were seized.

Falls, not bulls, send 3 to hospital

Three people were hospitalized after several thousand people tested their bravery by dashing alongside six fighting bulls through the slippery streets of Pamplona in the sixth running of the bulls at Spain's San Fermin festival on Saturday. Spanish Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said no one was gored but at least three spectators were injured when they slipped and fell.

Syria

Army set to retake key capital suburb

The Syrian army has advanced into Mleiha, a key suburb east of the capital Damascus, completely besieging more than 400 rebel fighters in that key area, whose recapture would enhance the security situation in the capital, a senior military source said on Saturday.

India

Mumbai building collapse kills 1

At least one person was killed and six others injured when an under-construction building collapsed in Mumbai on Saturday, a senior police officer said. Several others are feared trapped inside the debris.

Xinhua - Reuters - AP

(China Daily 07/13/2014 page2)