IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Middle East

Palestinian PM survives attack

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah survived an assassination attempt in Gaza on Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority said after an apparent roadside bomb targeted his convoy. Three vehicles were damaged in the explosion. There was no immediately claim of responsibility.

Japan

Aso preparing to skip G20 meeting

Finance Minister Taro Aso was preparing to skip a Group of 20 finance leaders' gathering in Buenos Aires, Argentina, next week, officials said on Tuesday, with the minister fighting to survive a cronyism scandal. Premier Shinzo Abe and Aso, his close ally, are under pressure over the finance ministry's admission that it had altered records of a discounted sale of state-owned land to a school operator with ties to Abe's wife.

Afghanistan

Mattis pays surprise visit

US Defense Secretary James Mattis paid an unannounced visit to Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, a local television channel 1TV reported. The Pentagon chief would meet Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani. Mattis, a retired Marine general, commanded US troops in southern Afghanistan in the opening weeks of the war in 2001.

AP - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 03/14/2018 page12)