IN BRIEF (Page 12)
Iran
First domestic fighter jet unveiled
Iran unveiled its first domestic fighter jet on Tuesday, with President Hassan Rouhani insisting that Teheran's military strength was only designed to deter enemies and create "lasting peace". Images on state television showed Rouhani sitting in the cockpit of the new "Kowsar" fourth-generation fighter at the National Defence Industry exhibition in Teheran. State media said it had "advanced avionics" and multipurpose radar, and that it was "100 percent indigenously made" for the first time.
Italy
11 dead in surge of white-water creek
At least 11 people were killed in southern Italy on Monday when they were washed away over rocks by a raging white-water creek in a deep mountain gorge that swelled suddenly after heavy rain upstream, officials said. The civil protection department said 23 people were rescued and about a dozen others were hospitalized after surviving the flash rush of water in the narrow gorge in the Calabria region. The 11th victim died in hospital. At least five people were missing.
Malaysia
Record $12m of rhino horn seized
Malaysia has made a record seizure of 50 rhino horns worth an estimated $12 million at Kuala Lumpur airport as they were being flown to Vietnam, authorities said on Monday. Customs officials found the parts in cardboard boxes on Aug 13 in the cargo terminal of the capital's airport. The 50 horns weighed 116 kilograms and are worth about $12 million, an official said, adding that the seizure was "the biggest ever in (Malaysia's) history in terms of the number of horns and value".
Germany
Nation in worst teacher shortage
The education sector is in the grips of one of its worst ever staff shortages, warned Heinz-Peter Meidinger, the president of the Association of German Teachers. Speaking to Passauer Neue Presse newspaper, Meidinger estimated there was a current deficit of 40,000 teachers for the upcoming school year. The situation is particularly dire in Berlin.
Afp - Reuters - Xinhua
(China Daily 08/22/2018 page12)
