IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United Nations

175M not enrolled in pre-primary education

More than 175 million children, about half of the world's pre-primary-age children, are not enrolled in pre-primary education, the United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF, said in a report on Tuesday. In low-income countries, the picture is much bleaker, with only one in five young children is enrolled in pre-primary education, according to UNICEF's first global report on pre-primary education. The report noted that children enrolled in at least one year of pre-primary school are more likely to develop the critical skills they need to succeed in school. Children attending pre-primary school are more than twice as likely to be on track in early literacy and numeracy skills than children missing out on early learning.

United Kingdom

Nation to introduce 'no-fault' divorce

The country wants to end the divorce blame game. The government has announced plans to introduce "no-fault" divorces so separating couples no longer have to blame one another for the breakdown of a marriage. Justice Secretary David Gauke said on Tuesday that the government will introduce legislation after a public consultation revealed broad support for change. Until now, couples have had to prove misconduct such as adultery by one partner or live apart for a fixed period before they could divorce. The proposed changes would only require the couple to declare that their marriage had irretrievably broken down.

Republic Of Korea

Permit canceled for Japanese building

Authorities in Seoul have canceled the permit for a new Japanese embassy building citing construction delays, local officials said on Wednesday, with relations between Seoul and Tokyo strained by historical disputes. The neighbors are both US allies. But their own ties have remained icy for years due to bitter rows stemming from Japan's brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, with forced labor and wartime sex slavery key examples. The previous embassy building was demolished some years ago, with staff moving into offices in the neighboring high-rises, and the plot is now a patch of bare earth behind a high wall, vines growing through the surrounding barbed wire.

XINHUA - AP - AFP

(China Daily 04/11/2019 page12)