IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Somalia

Al-Shabaab attacks base

Al-Shabaab militants attacked and took control of a military base on the outskirts of Somalia's coastal city of Kismayu on Sunday, military officials said. The fighters attacked the base in Buulo Guduud, some 30 kilometers north of Kismayu, at dawn and engaged the Somali troops in a fierce fighting. A senior military officer, Ismail Sahardid, told journalists that the fierce fighting went on into daybreak, without giving the number of casualties.

Malaysia

Police arrest 'Abu Sayyaf leader'

Malaysian police arrested a suspected leader and seven members of the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf Islamist group in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, a police source said on Sunday. Police detained Hajar Abdul Mubin - otherwise known as Abu Asrie - in the Wednesday raid, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak to the media on the case. Hajar, a Filipino, was arrested along with one other Filipino and six Malaysians from the Borneo state of Sabah, which shares a porous maritime border with the Philippines.

France

Forest fire rages in southeast

A forest fire broke out in southeastern France, destroying more than 400 hectares near urban areas, damaging two houses and forcing the evacuation of a camping site, the fire department and local authorities said on Sunday. "The fire is very violent, very virulent," a local official in Var, Emmanuel Cayron, told AFP from the crisis center which has been activated. Some 430 hectares had been burned and two homes were ravaged, a spokeswoman for the local prefecture said. And 165 people were evacuated from a camping site.

India

PM reshuffles Cabinet

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reshuffled his Cabinet, introducing nine new faces, moving a few others and dropping six ministers. All the nine new ministers were administered the oath of office by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, his official residence. But there has been no change in the top three slots, with Rajnath Singh retaining the Home Ministry, Arun Jaitley the Finance Ministry and Sushma Swaraj the External Affairs Ministry.

Japan

Princess to wed commoner

Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Japanese Emperor Akihito, will wed a former classmate, the Imperial Household said on Sunday, confirming a marriage that will further deplete the royal family since she must become a commoner. The announcement was aired by public broadcaster NHK. Mako is one of only four royal grandchildren.

(China Daily 09/04/2017 page16)