IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Yemen

UN envoy meets chief of rebels

A UN envoy met Yemen's rebel chief on Thursday to nail down details of peace talks expected in December, a day before a planned visit to the battleground port city of Hodeida. Martin Griffiths, who arrived in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Wednesday, is pushing for negotiations early next month in Sweden to help halt years of conflict that have left Yemen facing famine. The conflict in Yemen, which escalated when the Saudi-led alliance intervened in 2015, has killed thousands and sparked what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Republic Of Korea

'Former-first lady' swindling mayor

A woman pretending to be a former first lady was arrested on Friday on suspicion of swindling a politician out of nearly $400,000, a report said. Claiming to be late president Roh Moo-hyun's widow Kwon Yang-sook, the fraudster allegedly persuaded the then mayor of Gwangju to transfer her 450 million won ($398,000), saying she needed it for her daughter and promising to repay it quickly. At the time, Yoon Jang-hyun, a member of Roh's Democratic Party, was seeking the organization's nomination for a second term as mayor of the southern city.

India

Police watch tribal island after killing

Police on Friday took up position near the island where isolated tribal hunters killed a US adventurer, though no effort was to be made to recover his body, officials said. Hampered by restrictions on going to North Sentinel and the hostility of the Sentinelese people, authorities are counting on the expertise of anthropologists and tribal welfare specialists to access the remains of 27-year-old John Allen Chau. Chau was killed by arrows fired by the Sentinelese hunter-gatherers last week after he illegally went ashore.

Japan

Ghosn set to face new charges

Nissan's disgraced former chairman Carlos Ghosn under-reported his income by a total of $71 million - much more than initially suspected - Japanese media reported on Friday. The Brazil-born tycoon is now reportedly set to face a new charge from prosecutors, after he was sacked as Nissan chairman on Thursday to top a spectacular fall from grace for the once-revered boss whose fall has stunned the business world.

Australia

Tourist rescued after night at sea

A US tourist was rescued off Australia's northeast coast on Thursday after his boat capsized, forcing him to spend a cold and lonely night on his overturned vessel as it drifted on the tide. Levi Verwoest, 29, was sailing his 23-foot catamaran 40 kilometers off the Queensland coast on Wednesday evening when he realized the vessel was taking on water. Within minutes, the boat capsized, but Verwoest was able to activate his emergency locator beacon only the next morning, after 12 hours of staying adrift.

Afp - Reuters

(China Daily 11/24/2018 page8)