IN BRIEF (Page 11)

France

'Yellow vests' back on streets again

Thousands of "yellow vest" protesters returned to the streets of France on Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's policies, clashing with police in several cities in a challenge to his bid to quell the movement. Police fired tear gas and water cannon to push back protesters at Place de la Bastille in Paris, one of the regular protest areas, as some demonstrators threw stones from a building site. The local prefecture reported 223 arrests in Paris, while the Interior Ministry estimated numbers for the 11th week of protests were at 69,000 across France, compared with 84,000 on Jan 19.

Germany

Nation will phase out coal-fired power plants

Germany should shut down all of its coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest, a government-appointed commission said on Saturday, proposing at least $45.7 billion in aid to regions affected by the phaseout. The road map proposals, a hard-won compromise reached early on Saturday after more than 20 hours of talks, must now be implemented by the German government and 16 regional states. They embody Germany's strategy to shift to renewables, which made up more than 40 percent of the energy mix last year - beating coal for the first time - and follow a 2011 decision to halt nuclear power.

Russia

Parade marks 75 years since Leningrad siege

The Russian city of St. Petersburg is marking the end of the World War II siege by Nazi forces with a large military parade in sprawling Palace Square. The siege of the city, then called Leningrad, lasted nearly 2.5 years until the Soviet Army drove the Nazis away on Jan 27, 1944. Estimates of the death toll vary, but historians agree that more than 1 million Leningrad residents died from hunger or air and artillery bombardments during the siege. On Sunday, more than 2,500 soldiers and 80 units of military equipment were parading even as snow fell and temperatures hovered around -18 C. The vehicles included a T-34 tank; such tanks played a key role in defeating the Nazis and became a widely revered symbol of the nation's wartime valor and suffering.

Japan

Blackmail letters with suspected cyanide

Nine Japanese companies, including drugmakers and a newspaper, have received blackmail letters containing white powder suspected to be cyanide, police and local media said on Sunday. The letters were sent under the names of executed members of the Aum Shinrikyo - the Japanese doomsday cult behind the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo - and demanded 35 million won ($31,000) in bitcoins, a police spokesman said. Local media said the names on the letters - which were received on Friday - included Shoko Asahara, the charismatic leader of the sect who was executed with 12 of his one-time followers in July last year.

Afp - Reuters - Ap

(China Daily 01/28/2019 page11)