IN BRIEF (Page 11)

India

Child rapists to get death penalty

India's government on Saturday approved the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under 12, responding to widespread outrage over the recent rape and killing of a young girl and other attacks on children. An order was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet and was being sent to the president for his approval, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. It will require the approval of Parliament within six months to become law. But in the meantime, suspects can be prosecuted under the order.

Iran

Minister issues nuclear vow

Iran is ready to resume its nuclear program "at a much greater speed" if the United States walks away from the landmark 2015 deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said. US President Donald Trump has set a May 12 deadline for the Europeans to "fix" the agreement that provides for curbs to Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from financial sanctions. In a television interview to be broadcast on Sunday, Zarif said Iran had a number of options, including accelerating the nuclear program, should the US abandon the deal.

Mexico

Trade update deal reached with EU

Mexico and the European Union reached a deal to update their nearly 20-year-old free trade agreement on Saturday, including the elimination of tariffs on a number of Mexican agricultural products. President Enrique Pena Nieto, who arrived in Hannover, Germany, in the afternoon to begin a five-day tour of three European nations, said via Twitter that the "agreement in principle" was struck in Brussels. The announcement comes amid uncertainty for both Mexican and European commercial ties with the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump.

Nicaragua

Reporter killed on live broadcast

A reporter was shot and killed during a live broadcast from an area of Nicaragua roiled by violent anti-government protests this week, local media reported on Saturday night. The man, identified in local media as Angel Gahona, was reporting live in the town of Bluefields in the country's southern coast, when a shot rang out and he fell to the ground bleeding in the head. Neither authorities in Managua nor a spokeswoman for the Red Cross in Nicaragua were immediately able to independently confirm details of the incident.

Japan

World's 'oldest person' dies

A Japanese woman born in the final year of the 19th century and believed to have been the world's oldest person died on Saturday, Kyodo news agency said. She was 117. Nabi Tajima died at a hospital on her native southwestern island of Kikaijima, Kyodo said. Guinness World Records had been conducting research with a view to certifying Tajima as the oldest person alive after the previous record holder, Violet Brown of Jamaica, died last year at 117, Kyodo said.

Ap - Afp - Reuters

(China Daily 04/23/2018 page11)