Briefly

GERMANY

No confirmation of US troop withdrawal

The German government said on Monday that it had not had official confirmation from Washington of any decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany, but stressed that their presence serves all NATO members. Trump has ordered the US military to remove 9,500 troops from Germany, a senior US official said on Friday. The move would reduce the US contingent to 25,000. "I don't want to speculate on something for which I have no confirmation," German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told a news conference. Despite misgivings about nuclear weapons that the United States is believed to have at a base in Buechel in western Germany, Germans have generally welcomed US troops since World War II.

SOUTH KOREA

Court set to rule on Samsung heir warrant

Samsung Group's leader, Lee Jaeyong, appeared before a South Korean court on Monday, awaiting a ruling on whether new allegations including accounting fraud and stock manipulation will send him back to jail after more than two years of freedom. Prosecutors last week asked the court to issue an arrest warrant against Lee, culminating a probe into a controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates that they said helped facilitate Lee's plan to assume greater control of the group. The Samsung Electronics vice-chairman did not answer questions from reporters. The decision on whether he will be arrested is expected late on Monday or early on Tuesday.

UNITED STATES

Republican Powell to support Biden

Colin Powell, former US secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Sunday endorsed Democratic former US vice-president Joe Biden, becoming the first major Republican to publicly back Donald Trump's rival ahead of November's election. Powell, who led the US military during the 1991 Gulf War and later led the US Department of State, said Trump was "ineffective" and has only gotten worse since he took office. "I cannot in any way support President Trump this year," Powell told CNN in an interview. Asked if he would vote for Biden, he added: "I will be voting for him."

SOUTH ASIA

4 militants killed in Kashmir gunfight

Four militants were killed on Monday in a fierce gunfight with government forces in restive India-controlled Kashmir, confirmed the local police through a tweet. The gunfight broke out at village Pinjura of Shopian district, about 70 kilometers south of Srinagar. Further details are awaited. As the fighting raged, hundreds of people marched near the site in solidarity with the rebels and chanted slogans seeking an end to Indian rule over the region. Government forces fired shotgun pellets and tear gas at the stone-throwing protesters.

DENMARK

Panda back safely after fleeing enclosure

One of Copenhagen Zoo's giant pandas escaped from its enclosure early on Monday and roamed the park before staff were able to sedate it and bring it back. Xing Er, a 7-year-old male who arrived at the zoo last year, was seen on surveillance video breaking out of the newly built Panda House that also houses female panda Mao Sun. Zoo spokesman Bengt Holst said that on the video staff could see how "the male panda crawls up a metal pole, which is studded with three rows of electrical wires ... and then crawls out into the garden", adding that the park now was looking at making changes to security around the enclosure "to ensure that it does not happen again".

Agencies - Xinhua