Briefly

JAPAN

PM reshuffles cabinet, retains key ministers

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reshuffled her cabinet on Thursday, retaining most key ministers while bringing in a newcomer from the Japan Innovation Party, the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. According to the new lineup, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama all remained in their respective posts. Hiroshi Nakatsuka, formerly secretary-general of the Japan Innovation Party, was appointed minister in charge of regulatory reform, making him the first JIP member to serve as a cabinet minister. The small-scale reshuffle comes as Takaichi navigates rising inflation and a weak yen while pursuing a consumption tax cut on food starting next year.

BRAZIL

Lula to tell Trump to 'not meddle' in polls

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he will tell US President Donald Trump "not to meddle in Brazil's elections" next week during the United Nations General Assembly session. Lula is slated to give his speech on Tuesday at the annual global leadership meeting in New York, where he could run into his United States counterpart, who is an ally to his rival in October's election, Flavio Bolsonaro. "I'm going to the UN meeting to have a conversation with Trump and tell him: don't meddle in the elections in Brazil," Lula said during a campaign stop in Ceilandia, a working-class neighborhood in Brasilia. Meanwhile, the US has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an entry visa to attend the UN meeting, extending a ban in place since last year, a Palestinian official familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

DR CONGO

Ebola cases top 7,400 as transmission shifts

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is showing a shifting pattern, with transmission easing in the longtime epicenter of Ituri but rising rapidly in North Kivu, where treatment capacity is nearing saturation, according to the latest government situation report released on Thursday. As of Tuesday, the country had reported 7,404 confirmed cases, including 3,577 deaths, with an overall case fatality rate of 48.3 percent. A total of 1,776 patients have recovered. The outbreak has affected 62 health zones across seven provinces, with Ituri remaining the epicenter of the outbreak, accounting for 77.7 percent of all confirmed cases.

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