IN BRIEF (Page 12)

ARGENTINA

Blast at port kills COFCO employee

An explosion at a grains terminal in Argentina owned by China's COFCO International on Wednesday killed one employee, the conglomerate said. The cause of the blast is not yet known. Television images showed thick black smoke billowing from what COFCO described as a 52,000-square-meter grains processing plant. The facility is part of Argentina's shipping hub of Rosario, on the Parana River in Santa Fe province.

SOUTH KOREA

Defense drill held near disputed zone

South Korea's military on Thursday kicked off a two-day maritime defense drill near the Dokdo islets, called Takeshima in Japan, media reported. Taking part to the drill are five battleships, maritime patrol aircraft, fighter jets and helicopters. South Korea regained the islets after liberation from the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

AUSTRALIA

$8b spent on US military equipment

The government has spent more than $8 billion on weapons and military equipment from the United States in the past four years, a report has found. The sales were administered by the US Department of Defense, which has responsibility over the transfer of US equipment and weapons. More than half of the money was spent on information technology, telecommunications, broadcasting, engineering and research contracts.

TURKEY

EU keeps promise to aid refugees

The European Union fulfilled its commitment of $3.6 billion aid for refugees in Turkey with all money now fully contracted, ambassador of the EU delegation to Ankara, Christian Berger, said on Wednesday. The EU had signed on Tuesday the last contract with KfW, or German Development Bank, which means that the entire amount of the funds offered by the EU last year is now contracted, with a total of 72 projects contracted in Turkey by the end of 2017, the ambassador said.

INDIA

At least 7 die in road accident

At least seven people were killed in a road accident in the western state of Maharashtra on Thursday, police said. "The accident occurred when an autorickshaw, a three-wheeler passenger vehicle, collided with a truck near Shemli village on the Malegaon-Satana Road in the state's Nashik district," a senior police official said. India has a high number of road fatalities. Road accidents occur mostly due to poor driving or badly maintained roads and vehicles.

(China Daily 12/29/2017 page12)