IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Russia

Merkel meets with Putin on rare visit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks on Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and Syria in a signal of renewed dialogue despite profound rifts on her first visit to Russia since 2015. "We cannot but use this visit to discuss bilateral relations and the most problematic points, by which I mean Ukraine and Syria and maybe some other regions," Putin told Merkel at the start of the meeting in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Republic Of Korea

13 MPs defect from minor party

Thirteen lawmakers on Tuesday announced their defection from the minor conservative Righteous Party, with just a week left before a presidential election. The lawmakers, who created the new party earlier this year, said they will join the former ruling Liberty Korea Party and throw support behind Hong Joon-pyo, the party's candidate for the upcoming presidential election slated for May 9.

Turkey

Erdogan rejoins the ruling party

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday rejoined the Turkish ruling party after a nearly three-year absence, in the first major change to come into effect following the referendum victory on expanding his powers. Erdogan signed a membership document to rejoin the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party that he co-founded, at a ceremony at its headquarters. Party officials then burst into thunderous applause and sang the national anthem.

Australia

Terrorism funded through gift cards

Australian extremists are taking readily-available travel "gift cards", or stored value cards, to the Middle East to fund terrorism, according to a report released on Tuesday. The report, released by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, found 12 instances in which the prepaid cards were "highly likely" to have been used to fund terrorism. Some SVCs can be loaded with up to $75,000 at any one time, and are then used as a regular debit card both in Australia and overseas.

United States

SpaceX launches govt spy satellite

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida on Monday, carrying the company's first satellite for the US military, and breaking a 10-year monopoly held by a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The 23-story tall rocket took off from its seaside launchpad at Kennedy Space Center at 7:15 am. Monday's launch was the 34th mission for SpaceX and the fifth of more than 20 flights planned for this year.

United Kingdom

Surfer rescued after 30 hours at sea

A surfer who went missing off the coast of Scotland has been found 20 kilometers from land after spending more than 30 hours in the water, British coast guard said on Monday. The man, named by the BBC as 22-year-old Matthew Bryce from Glasgow, was reported missing after he set off to go surfing on Sunday morning from a beach near Campbeltown off the Scottish west coast, sparking a large search operation.

(China Daily 05/03/2017 page12)