IN BRIEF (Page 8)

China Daily | Updated: 2019-04-13 06:42

Israel

Netanyahu wins 5th term as PM

Official results of Israel's elections were published on Thursday night, showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party has beaten the main rival, the Blue and White party. The results were released by the Central Election Committee after two days of counting ballots and delays caused by computer malfunctions, according to the committee chairman, Judge Hanan Melcer. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party won 36 seats while the centrist Blue and White, led by an ex-army chief, gained 35 seats, the results showed. Netanyahu now needs to form a governing coalition with at least 61 members in Israel's 120-seat parliament, or the Knesset.

Australia

Govt opposes death penalty for Assange

Australia said on Friday it would oppose the death penalty for Julian Assange if he is extradited to the United States, as protesters in Sydney called for his release and Australia's journalists' union voiced its strong support for him. The Australian WikiLeaks founder was arrested on Thursday in London's Ecuadorian embassy and the judge found him guilty of breaching his bail conditions. He faces a US charge of conspiring to reveal government secrets. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said any extradition plans had "nothing to do with Australia," and that Assange would receive only standard assistance from Australian consular officials. Assange took refuge in the embassy in London in 2012 after he was released on bail in Britain while facing extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations that have since been dropped. He refused to leave the embassy, fearing arrest and extradition to the US for publishing classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.

United States

SpaceX launches supersized rocket

The world's most powerful operational rocket completed its first commercial launch on Thursday, bringing a Saudi Arabian telecommunications satellite into orbit. The Falcon Heavy, developed by SpaceX, blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in the US State of Florida at 6:35 pm. About eight minutes after liftoff, the reusable rocket's two side boosters landed back on ground near the launch center, showed SpaceX's live broadcast. About two minutes later, its center core landed successfully on the Of Course I Still Love You drone-ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Xinhua - Ap

(China Daily 04/13/2019 page8)