IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Saudi Arabia

Forces shoot down rebel missiles

Saudi forces intercepted seven Yemeni rebel missiles on Sunday, including over the capital Riyadh, in a deadly escalation on the eve of the third anniversary of the Saudi-led coalition's intervention in Yemen. One Egyptian national was killed and two others were wounded from falling shrapnel in Riyadh, authorities said, with residents reporting loud explosions and bright flashes in the sky shortly before midnight. The latest attack could further escalate the coalition's military campaign.

Turkey

Ankara hopes for full EU status

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday insisted that Turkey still aimed to become a full member of the EU, hours ahead of a crunch summit with the bloc's chiefs aimed at restoring damaged ties. "EU membership continues to be our strategic target," Erdogan said at Istanbul airport before heading to Bulgaria for talks with European Union President Donald Tusk and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.

Tanzania

Traffic collision leaves 26 dead

A police official in Tanzania said a truck and a minibus collided, killing at least 26 people and injuring nine others. The country's traffic police commander, Fortunatus Musilimu, said the dead in Saturday night's accident in the southern town of Mkuranga included 12 women and seven children. There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. Road accidents are common in the East African nation, often the result of badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws. Government statistics show that such accidents kill around 9,000 people annually.

United Arab Emirates

Briton jailed for wife's murder

A British newspaper editor in Dubai was found guilty on Sunday of bludgeoning his wife to death with a hammer and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Francis Matthew, the former editor of the English-language Gulf News, had faced the possibility of the death penalty in the July 2017 killing of Jane Matthew, his wife of over 30 years. Prosecutors said Matthew struck his wife twice with the hammer during an argument over money and then attempted to make the attack look like a robbery.

Australia

PM under pressure after govt loses

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government lost its 29th straight Newspoll on Monday, putting the leader in an increasingly precarious position as his party attempts to push planned corporate tax cuts through parliament. The result of the widely watched poll leaves Turnbull just one poll away from a symbolically significant 30th poll loss, which he cited as one of his reasons for toppling former leader Tony Abbott in a party room spill in 2015.

(China Daily 03/27/2018 page12)