Briefly

JAPAN

Statue of 'comfort woman' draws ire

The Japanese government reacted angrily on Tuesday to a statue in the Republic of Korea that appears to depict Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, kneeling and bowing to a seated "comfort woman", a euphemism for women forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels. Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said if reports of the statue on display were true, it would be an "unforgivable" breach of international protocol. "If the reports are accurate, then there would be a decisive impact on Japan-ROK relations," Suga said in Tokyo. The head of a privately run botanic garden who commissioned the work said the kneeling figure was meant to depict anyone who could be in the position to apologize formally for the historic wrong, and not Abe in particular. He had not anticipated that the statue would inflame an already complicated diplomatic issue, he said.

UKRAINE

Two truce violations reported in Donbas

The commander of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation, Volodymyr Kravchenko, said Ukraine's armed forces were attacked by fire from small arms, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, and large-caliber machine guns, despite the full and comprehensive cease-fire taking effect on Monday in Donbas, the JFO press service said. During the attack, the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered no losses. No return fire was involved. Kravchenko, commenting on the cease-fire, said that, despite two cases of violation of the truce, a stable and controlled situation is observed on the contact line in Donbas.

UNITED KINGDOM

First cat in Britain found with COVID-19

A pet cat has tested positive in England for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the government said on Monday in the first confirmed case of an animal being infected with the virus in Britain. The British Environment Ministry said "all available evidence" suggested the cat had contracted the coronavirus from its owners, who had both tested positive for COVID-19. Both the cat and the owners made a full recovery and there was no transmission to any other animals or people in the household, the ministry said without identifying the individuals involved. The World Health Organization has said cats are the most susceptible animal species to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and are able to transmit it to other cats.

Agencies - Xinhua