IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Japan

120 pregnant whales killed

Japan killed 122 pregnant minke whales during a highly controversial annual whaling expedition that Tokyo defends as scientific research but conservationists call "gruesome and unnecessary". The four-month expedition in the Antarctic ended in March after the fleet killed 333 minke whales, according to a report submitted by Japanese authorities to the International Whaling Commission last month. Of those, 122 were pregnant, according to the Japanese report, with dozens more immature whales among those killed.

Canada

Chinese student perishes in fire

A Chinese student at the University of Toronto is dead and three others are in hospital after a house fire early on Wednesday, China's Toronto Consulate-General said. The fire broke out around 2:30 am at the house shared by the four students on the university's Scarborough campus.

United Kingdom

Gender pay gap costs $160 trillion

Gender inequality in the workplace could cost $160 trillion in lost earnings globally, a World Bank study showed on Wednesday, as pressure to address the pay gap grows. That represents the difference between the combined lifetime income of everyone of working age in the world today - known as human capital wealth - and what it would be if women earned as much as men.

Zimbabwe

First post-Mugabe elections in July

Zimbabwe will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on July 30, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Wednesday, a vote he promises will be free and fair with international monitoring after the exit of 94-year-old strongman Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa hopes the election will bolster his legitimacy as he keeps urging foreign investors to return to Zimbabwe.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 06/01/2018 page12)