IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Liberia

Stay-home order extended

Liberia's president ordered most civil servants to stay home another month in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, according to a statement released on Monday. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered nonessential workers not to come to work and promised that all government workers will till be paid.

Finland

Nuke plant further delayed

Finnish utility TVO said construction of the country's fifth nuclear reactor has been delayed again, with the plant not expected to go online until 2018, nine years later than initially forecast. French-German engineering conglomerate Areva-Siemens is building the reactor, which has been plagued by delays over faulty materials and planning problems since construction began in 2005. The 1,600-megawatt European Pressurized Reactor, one of the first of its kind, was meant to begin providing electricity in 2009.

Indonesia

Governor jailed for bribery

Indonesia's first female provincial leader, and head of one of the country's most powerful political dynasties, was jailed for four years on Monday for bribing a top judge over an election dispute. The case of Ratu Atut Chosiyah has transfixed even graft-weary Indonesia since her arrest last year for giving kickbacks to the constitutional court's then-chief justice, Akil Mochtar. Judges at a special anti-corruption court in Jakarta found the 52-year-old guilty of bribing Mochtar with 85,400 to annul a local election result in Banten that went against one of her close associates.

Japan

19 more dengue cases reported

Japan is urging local authorities to be on the lookout for further outbreaks of dengue fever, after confirming another 19 cases that were contracted at a popular local park in downtown Tokyo. The cases announced on Monday raise to 22 the number of dengue infections thought to have been contracted locally.

Lybya

New government to be formed

Libya's elected parliament, the House of Representatives, asked Abdullah al-Thinni on Monday to form a new government for the oil-producing country, a parliamentary spokesman said. Thinni, a former defense minister and career soldier, has been prime minister since March, but his position has been challenged by a rival parliament that refuses to recognize the House of Representatives.

AP - AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 09/02/2014 page12)