IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Russia

Putin: Nation going in right direction

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday opened his annual televised phone-in event in which he promised Russians the country was going in the "right direction". The annual event allows Russians to submit questions via phone, text and online to the president, who addresses their concerns and weighs in on geopolitical issues. This year's "direct line" is the first in Putin's fourth presidential term. Putin, who was re-elected in a landslide in March, has promised to slash poverty and revive a stalled economy in the face of Western sanctions.

Yemen

46 migrants drown as boat capsizes

Forty-six migrants drowned and 16 are missing after their boat capsized off the shore of Yemen on Wednesday, the United Nations Migration Agency said. At least 100 migrants were crammed into a smuggler's boat that left the port of Bossaso in Somalia on Tuesday, traveling through the night. The boat overturned in high waves in the Gulf of Aden at around 5 am as it approached its destination. More than 7,000 migrants take the perilous journey every month, facing horrendous conditions and appalling treatment at the hand of people traffickers.

Japan

Anti-misconduct training for officials

Japan is drawing up plans requiring all senior government bureaucrats to undergo anti-sexual harassment training, an official said on Thursday, after a scandal involving a top Finance Ministry employee. The move came after the top bureaucrat at the ministry quit in April following allegations he sexually harassed female reporters. He denied the claims, but a ministry probe subsequently found the allegations credible and docked his retirement benefits.

Spain

Female-dominated Cabinet takes office

The government cabinet with the highest proportion of female ministers in Spanish and European history was sworn in on Thursday, putting the cap on one of the fastest power transitions in Spain's four decades of democratic rule. The new Socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is comprised of 11 female ministers - overseeing key areas such as the national economy, finance and defense - and six men. Women represented 64.7 percent of the new Cabinet, above the 62.5 percent that the Finnish government scored in 2015 according to the statistics of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Afghanistan

Weeklong cease-fire agreed with Taliban

President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday announced a weeklong cease-fire with Taliban militants to coincide with the holiday marking the end of Ramadan next week. A statement sent from the president's office on Thursday said the cease-fire will begin on 27 Ramadan, or June 12 on the Western calendar, and last through the Eid al-Fitr holiday, until around June 19. It said the cease-fire does not include al-Qaida or the Islamic State terror group. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban, who have steadily expanded their presence in recent years.

China Daily - Afp - Ap

(China Daily 06/08/2018 page12)