IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Sweden

PM wins new term after long wrangling

Sweden ended a four-month political vacuum on Friday when lawmakers elected Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to a second term, after he elbowed out the far-right to save one of Europe's few left-wing governments. Lofven, 61, may have won a victory, but the former welder and union leader emerges weakened by months of wrangling in the wake of September's inconclusive legislative elections that forced him to make major concessions to center-right parties to win their support. Lofven will formally present his new minority center-left government and its program on Monday. In Sweden, a prime minister can govern as long as there is no majority against him or her.

Republic Of Korea

Seoul court dismisses Japanese firm's appeal

A Seoul court on Friday dismissed a Japanese machinery maker's appeal against an order that it pay 17 ROK women 100 million won ($89,000) each for forced wartime labor, the latest in a series of rulings raising tensions between the neighbors. The latest ruling involved those women made to work at Nachi-Fujikoshi's Toyama assembly lines - where it produced weapons parts - in 1944 and 1945. The ROK and its former colonial power Japan are both US allies, but their relationship is soured by issues of past history, including Koreans forced to work at Japanese firms' factories during World War II, and a territorial row over Seoul-controlled islets also claimed by Japan.

Russia

Su-34 fighter jets collide; crews eject

Two Su-34 jets of the Russian Air Forces accidentally collided during a training flight in the country's Far East on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The accident occurred over the Sea of Japan, 35 kilometers off the coast, at 8:07 am Moscow time. The planes performed the flights without ammunition and the crews managed to eject safely. An An-12 and two Mi-8 helicopters from the search and rescue forces are searching for the pilots in the area where they ejected. The Su-34 is Russia's all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber. It first flew in 1990 and has been in service with the Russian Air Force since 2014.

United Kingdom

Prince Philip, 97, unhurt in car crash

Queen Elizabeth II's 97-year-old husband Prince Philip emerged "shocked and shaken" but unhurt from a car crash that flipped his Land Rover on its side and stirred up a UK debate on Friday about old age and driving. A nine-month-old baby who was in the back seat of the Kia hatchback involved was uninjured, while one of the two women inside hurt her wrist, local police said. Images published by UK media showed a dark Land Rover standing on its side by the curb, driver's side down, its windscreen smashed, glass and metal debris scattered across a road running by a leafy park. Philip and the other driver were given breath tests, which is standard police procedure. No alcohol was detected.

Xinhua - Ap - Afp

(China Daily 01/19/2019 page8)