IN BRIEF (Page 12)

South Korea

Lotte chief faces 10 years in prison

Prosecutors on Monday demanded a 10-year prison term for Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin over embezzlement and breach of trust, according to local media reports. Shin, 63, chief of the country's fifth-largest family-run conglomerate, was accused of offering tens of millions of dollars in illegitimate pay to the founding family members of Lotte, while providing illegitimate business favors for the founding family-run companies.

United Nations

CO2 concentration hits record high

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has hit a new high, the UN said on Monday, warning that drastic action is needed to achieve targets set by the Paris climate agreement. "Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed in 2016," the World Meteorological Organization said. The report also said that the last time Earth experienced similar CO2 concentration rates was three to five million years ago, when the sea level was up to 20 meters higher than now.

Japan

Officials probe faulty inspections

Officials conducted on-site checks on Monday at two factories of the automaker Subaru where unqualified workers were inspecting its cars, as reports said the company plans to recall 255,000 vehicles to be reinspected. Subaru said last week it has been carrying out flawed inspections of its Japan-made cars for more than 30 years. It followed a similar one by Nissan which has recalled more than 1 million domestically made cars because of faulty routine tests.

Xinhua - AFP - AP

(China Daily 10/31/2017 page12)