IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China

Govt expresses dissatisfaction

Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin lodged solemn representation on Monday to Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio over the formal plea the Philippines filed to an international tribunal on the South China Sea dispute on Sunday. China expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the Philippines over the international arbitration it pushed forward, unilaterally disregarding China's stern stance, he said.

United Nations

Japan ordered to stop whaling

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered a temporary halt on Monday to Japan's Antarctic whaling program, ruling that it is not for scientific purposes as the Japanese had claimed. Australia had sued Japan at the UN's highest court for resolving disputes between nations in hopes of ending whaling in the icy Southern Ocean. The court ordered Japan to halt any issuing of whaling permits until the program has been revamped.

United States

Kerry to return to Middle East

US Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back to the Middle East for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as peace talks hit a critical make-or-break point. The US state department said Kerry will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Monday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by US mediators, who have been holding urgent talks with the two sides in hopes of salvaging negotiations and getting them to extend talks beyond a current late-April deadline.

Afghanistan

Taliban kidnap local candidate

Taliban gunmen abducted a provincial election candidate in northern Afghanistan, officials said on Monday, five days ahead of national polls the Islamist militants have vowed to target. Afghanistan will vote on Saturday to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai and to decide the makeup of 34 provincial councils in elections seen as a benchmark of progress since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001.

Germany

Police arreststarget Islamists

German authorities arrested three people in raids on Monday against suspected supporters of a hard-line Islamic group in Syria, a move meant to curb the possible risks posed by extremists returning from Syria's civil war. Federal prosecutors said 10 apartments in Berlin, Frankfurt and Bonn were searched. One person was arrested in each city.

Xinhua-AP-AFP

(China Daily 04/01/2014 page12)