IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Afghanistan

Taliban militants storm strategic city

Heavily armed Taliban militants attacked Ghazni city in central Afghanistan early on Friday, burning police checkpoints, shelling houses and business areas, and seizing control of parts of the city before being beaten back, officials said. US attack helicopters and drone aircraft provided government forces with air support. The attack on the strategic city straddling the main route between the capital Kabul and southern Afghanistan demonstrated the Taliban's strength, underscoring how volatile the security situation remains less than three months before parliamentary elections in October.

Indonesia

Widodo picks cleric as running mate

The battle lines for the 2019 presidential election were drawn on Friday as the incumbent Joko "Jokowi" Widodo formally registered as a candidate after choosing a cleric as his running mate. The son of a carpenter, Jokowi rose from political obscurity as mayor of the central Javanese city of Solo to become governor of Jakarta and then president in 2014. Upgrading Indonesia's infrastructure has been the signature policy of his first term.

United States

Melania's parents get citizenship

The Slovenian-born parents of Melania Trump became US citizens at a naturalization ceremony in New York on Thursday, reportedly taking advantage of a family reunification program President Donald Trump has vehemently denounced. Trump's in-laws Viktor and Amalija Knavs took the oath of citizenship, their immigration lawyer Michael Wildes confirmed. Asked by The New York Times if they had obtained citizenship under a program derisively branded "chain migration" by the president, Wildes replied: "I suppose."

Japan

Ex-defense minister to challenge Abe

Former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday announced a long-shot bid to unseat Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as leader of the country's ruling party in elections next month. Abe is widely expected to win another term as head of the Liberal Democratic Party with Ishiba likely to be his only challenger. Earlier this year, Abe's popularity ratings slumped with his government mired in two cronyism scandals.

Reuters - AP - AFP

(China Daily 08/11/2018 page8)