IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Japan

More than 28% of population 'is old'

More than 28 percent of the population is now officially classified as elderly, according to government data, the highest rate in the world as the first wave of postwar baby boomers enter old age. Those aged 65 or older now make up a record 35.6 million, or 28.1 percent, of the total population, the government said on Sunday. The proportion is the highest by far in the world, ahead of 23.3 percent in Italy, 21.9 percent in Portugal and 21.7 percent in Germany, according to UN data for those countries.

Russia

Ukrainian missile 'shot down MH17'

The Russian military said on Monday that the missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, killing all 298 people on board, came from the arsenals of the Ukrainian army, not from Russia. The jet was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014. The Netherlands and Australia announced in May that they believe the missile was transported to Ukraine from a military unit in the Russian city of Kursk. Russia has vehemently denied involvement.

AFP - AP

(China Daily 09/18/2018 page12)