IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Austria

Iran seeks end to 'demands'

Iran said world powers should abandon their "illogical demands" over its nuclear program. The remarks from Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi came ahead of talks on Thursday to try to bridge wide differences in positions and end the decade-old dispute by late November. Araqchi, one of Iran's chief negotiators, was speaking before a meeting in Vienna with senior officials from the three European members of the group of six world powers involved in the negotiations with Teheran.

India

Nuclear-capable missile tested

India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I missile on Thursday from a military base in the eastern state of Odisha, according to local media reports. The missile has a strike range of 700 to 900 km. Compared with its longer-range counterparts, it has a height of just 15 meters and it is powered by both solid and liquid propellants, which gives it a speed of 2.5 km per second.

DPRK

Illegal visitor sent back home

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea extradited a resident of the Republic of Korea who allegedly entered DPRK territory illegally via a third country, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday. The ROK resident, Kim Sang-gun, who was living in the city of Ansong in Gyeonggi province, surrounding Seoul, had admitted his illegal action, KCNA reported.

ROK

Former top spy sentenced

Won Sei-hoon, the former head of the Republic of Korea's spy agency, was handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence - suspended for four years - on Thursday, following his trial on charges of meddling in the 2012 election that brought current ROK President Park Geun-hye to power. The former head of the National Intelligence Service had been charged with organizing an online smear campaign by NIS agents against the opposition party candidate whom Park defeated in the 2012 poll.

Brazil

President keeps lead in poll

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff continued to maintain her lead over main rival, Marina Silva, with less than a month to go before the Oct 5 general elections, polls showed on Wednesday. Rousseff, who is running for re-election as the candidate of the Workers' Party, has 36 percent of support among the electorate, while Silva, of the Brazilian Socialist Party, has 28 percent, according to a survey by pollster Vox Populi.

Reuters - Xinhua - AFP

(China Daily 09/12/2014 page11)