IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Iran

Govt approves live debates

Iran's Interior Ministry said its Election Campaign Monitoring Committee voted on Saturday to allow presidential debates to be broadcast live on state television for the upcoming polls on May 19, Press TV reported. The decision came after strong criticism from presidential candidates and Iranian people of an earlier decision by the committee not to broadcast the debates live. Debates in the previous two presidential elections were aired live on Iranian national television.

Syria

Party overhauls ruling body

The ruling Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Syria replaced half of the members of its leadership on Saturday during a meeting chaired by President Bashar al-Assad, state news agency SANA reported. Half of the 15 members of the Regional Command were replaced during the meeting of the central committee of the Ba'ath party. During the meeting, Assad said the countries against the Syrian government have used all their tools in the war against Syria, "primarily the Wahabi and Muslim Brotherhood terrorism."

United States

Diet drinks may triple stroke risk

Diet drinks, once thought as a good alternative to sugary drinks to reduce diabetes and obesity, may actually put you at a greater risk of stroke and dementia, new research has found. Just one artificially sweetened beverage a day appears to increase the odds by a factor of three, compared with drinking less than once a week, according to the research published this week in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.

Happy Days star Moran dies at 56

Erin Moran, the former child star who played Joanie Cunningham in the sitcoms Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi, died on Saturday at age 56. A statement from the sheriff's department in Harrison County, Indiana, said the dispatcher "received a 911 call about an unresponsive female. Upon arrival of first responders, it was determined that Erin Moran Fleischmann was deceased. An autopsy is pending." The dispatcher confirmed to The Associated Press that the woman was the actress.

United Kingdom

Titanic fur coat raises $230,000

A fur coat worn by a stewardess when the passenger liner Titanic sank in 1912 was auctioned in the United Kingdom on Saturday for 181,000 pounds ($232,000). It went under the hammer for more than double the estimated price of 80,000 pounds, and was bought by a British collector. Mabel Bennett, wearing a nightdress, grabbed the full-length coat for protection from the harsh elements of the North Atlantic as a lifeboat arrived to rescue her.

(China Daily 04/24/2017 page12)