Briefly

THE PHILIPPINES

Security forces kill 4 Abu Sayyaf militants

Philippine security forces killed four suspected terrorists in a before-dawn shootout on Sunday in southern Sulu Province. Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the suspects from the Abu Sayyaf Group were allegedly involved in a series of kidnappings and murders of foreign and Filipino victims in the Mindanao region and Malaysia. The military has launched on-and-off offensives against the terror group, a loose band of about 200 militants. The group has carried out deadly bombings and kidnappings in the remote and poor southern Philippine provinces of Sulu and Basilan.

JAPAN

Father-son duo admit helping Ghosn flee

A father-son duo from the United States accused of orchestrating former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn's audacious escape from Japan admitted their role on Monday as they made their first appearance before a Tokyo court. Former special forces operative Michael Taylor, 60, and his 28-year-old son Peter were extradited by US authorities over claims they smuggled Ghosn out of the country in a music equipment case as he awaited trial. At the Tokyo district court on Monday, the pair said they did not contest the facts laid out by prosecutors in an indictment, effectively conceding their role in the saga.

UNITED STATES

Wasabi's win spices up Westminster dog show

The Westminster Dog Show crowned a 3-year-old Pekingese named Wasabi its "Best in Show "on Sunday, in the culmination of a reworked pandemic edition of the competition missing its usual pooch-loving crowds. Normally held in February, the show was delayed and moved from its home in the heart of New York City to a country estate due to COVID-19.Spectators were kept away and it was the show's first time being held outside Manhattan, but the singular passion of the event, now in its 145th year, was unchanged: Dogs.

Xinhua - Agencies