IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Syria

Air defenses confront attack

The country's air defenses responded to an Israeli attack near the international airport of the capital Damascus on Saturday evening, state TV reported. The air defenses intercepted several missiles targeting the Damascus airport, said the report, citing a military statement. The exact target of the attack is still unknown. The attack is the latest in a string of Israeli missile strikes that have targeted Syrian military bases during the seven-year war in the country.

Indonesia

Lombok hit with malaria outbreak

A malaria outbreak has infected at least 137 people in Indonesia's West Lombok after the island was rocked by a series of earthquakes in recent months, an official said Sunday. The quakes and aftershocks since July have killed about 500 people and forced hundreds of thousands into evacuation shelters or tents. As a result the number of malaria cases is twice as high as in the same period last year, prompting the West Lombok government to declare a health emergency.

Japan

Murakami quits alternative Nobel

Author Haruki Murakami has asked for the withdrawal of his nomination for an alternative to the Nobel Prize in Literature, postponed this year over a sexual misconduct scandal, saying he wanted to concentrate on his writing. Murakami expressed gratitude at the nomination, but said he wanted to "concentrate on writing, away from media attention", the organizers of the New Academy Prize in Literature said.

Xinhua - AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 09/17/2018 page12)