IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Japan

Preparation for snap election

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is gearing up to dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap general election, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai said on Tuesday. Before Abe's departure Monday for a trip to attend the UN General Assembly, Abe told Nikai that he "will decide on the timing of the snap election after returning from the UN General Assembly on Friday". Abe, who also heads the LDP, is set to provisionally dissolve the lower house on Sept 28.

United States

Paris accord is 'badly negotiated'

President Donald Trump told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday that he believed the Paris climate agreement was "badly negotiated" and was unfair to workers, industries and economy of the United States, said Brian Hook, director of policy at the US State Department. Hook said that Trump did not believe that the agreement is "a framework to achieve those goals around clean energy, protecting the environment, and promoting economic growth".

Republic Of Korea

F-22, F-35A jets will be at air show

The US forces planned to send its F-22 and F-35A stealth fighter jets to an air show set to be held next month, local media outlets reported on Tuesday citing the ROK defense ministry. The Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, called ADEX, for 2017 was slated to be held from Oct 17 to Oct 22. The biennial air show, first held in 2009, would bring together about 400 defense companies from 30 countries.

New Zealand

Officials told to cancel flights

Lawmakers and public employees were told on Tuesday to cancel all nonessential flights to and from Auckland as a fuel shortage at the nation's largest airport continued to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of people. The main pipeline that carries jet fuel to Auckland Airport ruptured last week. Since then, at least 70 domestic and international flights have been canceled.

Russia

Man averted possible war, dies

Stanislav Petrov, a former Soviet military officer credited with averting a possible nuclear disaster at the peak of the Cold War, has died at the age of 77, BBC reported on Tuesday. Petrov was on duty at a Russian nuclear early warning center in 1983 when computers wrongly detected incoming missiles from the United States. He took the decision that they were a false alarm and did not report them to his superiors. His actions, which came to light years later, possibly prevented nuclear war.

Malaysia

Cat won't leave master's grave

A video clip of a white cat refusing to leave its master's grave in Langkawi has gone viral. The clip has been shared more than 22,000 times since it was uploaded on Monday afternoon by Facebook user Soffuan CZ. "While the talqin was being read at the funeral, the white cat came and started circling the grave." Efforts to make the cat leave by the relatives were futile as it insisted on remaining there.

Xinhua-AP-China Daily - the Star/ANN

(China Daily 09/20/2017 page11)