Briefly

JAPAN

$1.8m set aside for Abe's state funeral Japan will spend $1.83 million on a state funeral for slain former leader Shinzo Abe, the government said on Friday, despite growing opposition from a public angered by revelations of the ruling party's ties to the Unification Church. Abe was shot and killed at an election rally on July 8, and although funeral services were held soon after, Japan has decided to hold a state funeral at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan arena on Sept 27. The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, an Abe protege, decided the state funeral would be paid for solely with state funds. But opinion polls show persistent opposition to the idea. In the latest, published on Sunday, 53 percent of respondents were against a state funeral.

PORTUGAL

Workers' strike cancels 90 flights Employees of Portugal's airport handling company Portway began a three-day strike on Friday at its main airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Funchal, forcing cancellations of about 90 flights so far and bringing more disruption to summer travel. Around 90 percent of Portway workers walked out at Lisbon airport, where 60 flights have already been scrapped to and from the Portuguese capital, said Pedro Figueiredo, spokesman for the National Union for Civil Aviation Workers. The union was demanding better working conditions, wage increases and fully-paid holidays, among other things.

Agencies via Xinhua