IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Iran

Teheran summit to seal fate of Idlib

The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey will meet on Friday in Teheran for a summit expected to shape the future of Idlib province, home to Syria's last major rebel bastion. The summit will come as Syrian forces look poised to launch a major assault that is raising fears of a humanitarian catastrophe on a scale not yet seen in the seven-year conflict. Damascus and Moscow have vowed to root out the terrorist groups that dominate Idlib province but the outcome of Friday's meeting could determine the scope and the timing of an offensive.

Germany

Weber bids for Juncker's EU job

German conservative Manfred Weber declared his bid on Wednesday to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as EU chief executive, signaling an early start to campaigning for elections to the European Parliament in May. "I want to become the EPP's lead candidate for the 2019 European elections and be the next president of the European Commission," the 46-year-old tweeted during a meeting with members of his European People's Party in Brussels. Weber now leads the biggest transnational group in the EU legislature.

India

Girl, 9, gang-raped and murdered

Indian police have arrested a woman and four others after her 9-year-old stepdaughter was allegedly gang-raped, murdered and mutilated, in the latest horrific crime to shock the country. The child's decomposed body was found on Tuesday hidden behind bushes about a kilometer from her home in the Baramulla district of Indian-administered Kashmir, police said. Her father had reported her missing 12 days earlier. Police said the woman, aged 36, was jealous of her stepdaughter and of her husband's second wife, and on Aug 24 took the girl to a forested area. There she allegedly directed her own 14-year-old son and his two teenage friends, aged 14 and 19, to take turns raping the child.

Afp - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 09/06/2018 page12)