Briefly

SOUTH AFRICA

Top court rules men can take wives' surnames

South Africa's top court ruled on Thursday that men should be able to take their wives' surnames and a law that prevented this amounted to unfair gender discrimination. The Constitutional Court said the legal ban served no legitimate government purpose and was suspended, paving the way for parliament to enact amendments to the legislation. While men were deprived of the ability to take their wives' surnames, the discrimination was "far more insidious" for women, the ruling said. The case was brought to court by two couples, one of which wanted to honor the woman's parents, who died when she was young. In the other case, the woman wanted to maintain her ties to her family's surname, as she was an only child. Provisions allowing men to assume their wives' surnames on marriage are already in place in other countries, mainly in Europe and in certain US states.

BELARUS

Lukashenko meets envoy from Washington

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met on Thursday with John Cole, representative of US President Donald Trump, to discuss sanctions, prisoner issues and broader efforts to improve bilateral relations, the Belarusian leader's press office has said. During the discussions, Lukashenko expressed readiness to address Washington's concerns over the release of individuals imprisoned in Belarus. The Belarusian president said the economic sphere remains the most important area for bilateral cooperation, noting that Belarus is interested in expanding economic cooperation with the United States. For his part, Cole described the recent lifting of sanctions on the Belarusian airline Belavia as an initial step and expressed hope that progress on prisoner issues could lead to further normalization of relations.

Xinhua - Agencies