IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Honduras

New migrant caravan sets out for US

Another caravan of Central American migrants set out from Honduras on Monday seeking to reach the US border, following the same route used by thousands last year in at least three caravans. About 600 migrants gathered under a steady rain at the bus station in the city of San Pedro Sula and decided to set out in the darkness, hours before their intended Tuesday departure. About 300 people, mainly women and children, clambered aboard 30 small buses, intent on reaching the Guatemalan border. Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense announced a decision on Monday to extend the deployment of active duty troops at the border with Mexico to Sept 30.

Iran

Teheran fails in latest satellite launch test

Iran's bid to put a satellite into orbit, in defiance of US warnings, failed on Tuesday after the rocket carrying it did not reach escape velocity, as the country's telecoms minister said a second launch would go ahead. Authorities in Washington this month warned Teheran against undertaking three planned launches that they said would, by using long-range ballistic missile technology, violate the UN Security Council resolution that enshrined Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The United States is concerned that the technology can also be used to launch warheads. Iran, which considers its space program a matter of national pride, has said its space vehicle launches and missile tests are not violations and will continue.

United States

Ivanka Trump will not be World Bank chief

The White House said on Monday that Ivanka Trump, adviser and daughter of President Donald Trump, is not under consideration for the next president of the World Bank. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney have asked Ivanka Trump to "help manage the US nomination process as she's worked closely with the World Bank's leadership for the past two years", White House spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said in a statement. However, "reports that she is under consideration are false," Ditto said. The White House statement came after The Financial Times reported last week that Ivanka Trump had been floated as a possible candidate to head the World Bank.

New Zealand

Hospitals crippled as doctors go on strike

Nearly 80 percent of junior doctors across New Zealand walked off work at public hospitals on Tuesday, after a breakdown in union talks with the government over working conditions and wages. The strike spotlights the difficulties Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's government faces in delivering on its promise to pour money into social services and rein in economic inequality when it took office in 2017. The center-left government's traditional union support base said sluggish wage growth and soaring living costs have left workers struggling, with schoolteachers, nurses and court officials taking action last year to demand pay hikes.

India

Fishermen protest neighbor's navy

Hundreds of fishermen in the southern state of Tamil Nadu went on an indefinite strike to protest arrests by Sri Lankan authorities, officials said Tuesday. "Over two dozen fishermen from Pudukkottai, Nagapattinam and Rameswaram were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy while they were fishing mid-sea last week," an official said. "The arrested fishermen have been remanded into custody by the Sri Lankan courts." According to reports more than 700 boats are anchored on shore following the strike. Fishermen from the two countries are often jailed for crossing into each other's waters.

AP - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 01/16/2019 page12)