IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Japan

Nine headless bodies found

Police have found nine mutilated bodies dumped in containers with their heads cut off and flesh stripped in a suburban Tokyo flat, media reported on Tuesday. They have arrested 27-year-old Takahiro Shiraishi who reportedly confessed to slicing the flesh off the bodies and throwing it in the trash, then sprinkling cat litter over the remains in an effort to cover up the evidence.

United Nations

Global progress over tuberculosis

The overall progress worldwide to get rid of the tuberculosis, or TB, epidemic has not been fast enough as the disease still remains a high burden for many, according to a latest World Health Organization report on Monday. Globally, TB is the ninth leading cause of death and the leading cause from a single infectious agent, ranking above HIV/AIDS. In last year, an estimated 10.4 million people worldwide fell ill with TB, leading to more than 1.67 million deaths.

Iran

Khamenei limits missile range

The head of the Revolutionary Guard said the country's supreme leader has limited the range of ballistic missiles it makes to 2,000 kilometers. It marked the first acknowledgment that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has imposed limits on the country's ballistic missile program. It came as Iran's nuclear deal with world powers is threatened by US President Donald Trump's refusal to recertify the deal.

Thailand

Govt revokes ex-PM's passports

The government has the canceled the passports of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who fled the country last month to evade a prison sentence, officials said on Tuesday. She has not been seen or heard from since she stunned the kingdom by failing to turn up for the Supreme Court verdict in late August. Yingluck had two personal and two diplomatic passports.

United States

Life-size Terracotta Warriors on show

China's famed Terracotta Warriors will go on display in a rare exhibition to be hosted by two US museums. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be the first host, it said on Monday. The exhibition will feature more than 130 artifacts, including 10 life-size Terracotta Warriors. These statues were part of the baked earth army buried with Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China (260-210 BC).

Indonesia

Bird is named after first lady

President Joko Widodo has agreed to name a new species of bird recently discovered with a scientific code that associated it with the first lady Iriana Joko Widodo. The bird would get the scientific name of Myzomela Irianae. It was immediately declared as a strictly protected animal.

(China Daily 11/01/2017 page12)