IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Israel

Minister to stay in government

A senior coalition partner in Israel's government says he will not resign, averting early elections for now. Education Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday that his Jewish Home party was giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another chance - despite a crisis over the handling of a recent ceasefire with Gaza militants. Bennett was widely expected to announce his party's withdrawal from the coalition, which would have stripped Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority and triggered early polls.

Syria

Clashes between rebels kill 25

Clashes on Sunday between Turkish-backed rebel factions vying for influence in the northern Syrian town of Afrin left 25 fighters dead, a war monitor said. Turkish troops and allied rebel groups seized the Afrin region from Kurdish forces in March after a two-month air and ground offensive. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting in several districts had left 25 dead after erupting on Saturday, saying the clashes were "unprecedented since the rebels seized Afrin".

India

Dozens arrested around temple

Police arrested 68 people taking part in protests around a controversial Hindu temple ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on Monday on whether it should be given more time to let women enter. The Sabarimala temple in the southern state of Kerala has become a major battleground between Hindu radicals and gender activists. Tens of thousands of pilgrims have thronged to the hilltop shrine since it reopened on Friday amid unprecedented security.

Guatemala

Red alert after fresh eruption

Authorities on Monday declared a red alert after the Fuego volcano erupted again, forcing almost 3,000 residents to flee. A fiery glow rose from the crater of Fuego which is erupting for the fifth time this year, one month after the last one and following a June 3 rain of rocks, ash and toxic gases that left almost 200 people dead and 235 missing. A spokesman for Guatemala's disaster management agency said 2,995 residents in the municipality of Escuintla and two other districts were moved to shelters as a precaution.

AP - AFP

(China Daily 11/20/2018 page12)