IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Syria

US starts moving equipment out

Some US military ground equipment has been withdrawn from Syria in recent days, US media reported on Thursday. "Some cargo has already moved," CNN quoted an official with direct knowledge of the operation as saying. The official did not reveal detailed information as to what the cargo was or whether it had been moved out by aircraft or ground vehicles. The recent cargo withdrawal is reportedly intended to show the progress of the Syria withdrawal plan to US President Donald Trump by the Pentagon. Trump said earlier this week that US troops would be withdrawn from Syria "at a proper pace", while at the same time continuing the fight against the so-called Islamic State group.

South Korea

Ex-top court chief summoned

Prosecutors on Friday summoned a former top court chief for questioning over his alleged involvement in a judicial power abuse scandal. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sungtae, who led the top court from 2011 to September 2017, appeared in the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office, becoming the first top court head in the country's history to be called in for interrogation as a criminal suspect. The 71-year-old was accused of masterminding so-called "trial dealings", in which the top court ruled in politically and diplomatically sensitive trials in favor of the policy directions of impeached president Park Geunhye.

Japan

Ghosn indicted on two new charges

Tokyo prosecutors indicted former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn on two new charges of financial misconduct on Friday, local media reported, adding to the legal challenges for the once-feted auto executive. Ghosn was charged with aggravated breach of trust for temporarily transferring personal investment losses to Nissan in 2008, and for understating his compensation for three fiscal years through March 2018, the Nikkei business daily said. Ghosn, detained since his Nov 19 arrest, had already been charged for under-reporting his income for the five years through 2015. He denied the charges at a court appearance this week.

India

Election films get Bollywood vote

Bollywood filmmakers are seeking to cash in on this year's Indian general election with a host of political movies, some of which smack of propaganda according to critics. The Hindi film industry has a long tradition of producing politically tinged flicks but industry watchers say 2019's offerings are more partisan than ever before. The Accidental Prime Minister and Uri: The Surgical Strike were released on Friday. Films about the lives of two prominent politicians air later in January while a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also in the works.

United States

Gunman sentenced to 195 years

A gunman sentenced to 195 years in prison for an attack on a police station apologized on Thursday to the parents of an undercover narcotics detective who was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer during the ambush. Before a judge sentenced him, Michael Ford said he didn't intend to harm anybody but himself when he opened fire on a Prince George's County police station in March 2016. In November, a jury convicted Ford, 25, of second-degree murder in the killing of Detective Jacai Colson even though he didn't fire the shot that killed the four-year veteran of the county's police department.

Xinhua - Reuters - Afp

(China Daily 01/12/2019 page8)