IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Russia

Rebels' election to be recognized

Russia plans to recognize elections being organized next weekend by rebels in east Ukraine in defiance of the government in Kiev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. But Dmytro Kuleba, a senior official in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said that the announcement by Russia "undermines" attempts to end the six-month-old war.

Japan

Nuke plant gets nod for restart

A town in southwest Japan became the first to approve the restart of a nuclear power station on Tuesday, a step forward in Japan's fraught process of reviving an industry left idle after the Fukushima catastrophe in 2011. Satsumasendai, a town of 100,000 that hosts a two-reactor plant owned by the Kyushu Electric Power Co, is 1,000 kilometers southwest of Tokyo and has long relied on the plant for government subsidies and jobs.

Italy

Leader testifies at mafia trial

Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano gave unprecedented testimony on Tuesday in a major trial that accuses the state of holding secret talks with the Sicilian mafia in the 1990s. Palermo prosecutors seeking to shed light on a murky period when the mob targeted the state with assassinations and bombings questioned a sitting head of state in a mafia trial for the first time in the country's history. Among the 10 defendants are Nicola Mancino, who was interior minister at the time, and Salvatore Riina, once Italy's most powerful mob boss.

Philippines

Aquino rules out second term

President Benigno Aquino on Tuesday ruled out any attempt to seek a second term, a highly controversial proposition that would have required the rewriting of the country's Constitution. Aquino, who was elected by a landslide in 2010, is limited by the constitution to a single six-year term.

Cuba

Ebola doctor dies of malaria

A member of the Cuban health team fighting Ebola in Guinea, Jorge Juan Guerra Rodriguez, died of malaria on Sunday, Cuba's state daily, Granma, reported on Monday. The 60-year-old economist arrived in Guinea on Oct 6 with the vanguard team of Cuba's medical brigade to join international efforts to fight Ebola. Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, said on Tuesday that Ebola-affected countries in West Africa need at least 5,000 more health workers to effectively fight the epidemic.

Xinhua - Reuters - AP - AFP

(China Daily 10/29/2014 page12)