IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United States

$3.9b deal for Air Force One planes

The administration of President Donald Trump has reached a $3.9-billion deal with Boeing for two new Air Force One planes, the White House said on Tuesday. The White House said that the contract will save taxpayers more than $1.4 billion. The amount, however, cannot be confirmed yet. The president threatened in late 2016 to cancel the contract after revealing that Boeing was planning to spend $4 billion on the planes, a price Trump said was "out of control".

Eleven sick after envelope opened

An envelope containing an "unknown substance" was opened at a US base near Washington on Tuesday, leaving 11 people sick, including military personnel, the Marine Corps said. CNN reported that a corporal, gunnery sergeant and a colonel complained of a "burning sensation" on their hands and face. Marine spokesman Major Brian Block said it was too soon to say whether the incident was being considered a terror attack.

Norway

Ban mulled on some firearms

Norway is moving to ban semi-automatic firearms as of 2021, which will mark a decade since mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik used such weapons to kill 69 people, most of them teenagers, before surrendering to police. Peter Frolich of the Norwegian Parliament's judicial affairs committee says private citizens, including hunters, "should not have the right in Norway to access such weapons".

Australia

Govt recalls millions of cars

More than 2.3 million cars with potentially deadly air bags have been recalled by the Australian government. The compulsory recall is one of the biggest product recalls in Australian history and follows voluntary recalls by car manufacturers in 2017. The Takata air bags have been linked to at least 23 deaths globally.

Kazakhstan

US-Russian crew returns from ISS

A capsule carrying two US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut from the International Space Station landed in snowy Kazakhstan on Wednesday, a NASA TV live broadcast showed. The trio had spent five-and-a-half months at the ISS, a $100 billion lab that flies about 400 kilometers above Earth.

Xinhua - AFP - AP

(China Daily 03/01/2018 page12)