IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Japan

Abe seeks to avoid trade battle with US

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will treat US President Donald Trump to an imperial banquet, front-row seats at a sumo tournament and a trip to the country's biggest warship on a state visit, as Tokyo seeks to avoid a bust-up over trade. New Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Harvard-educated Empress Masako will host a lavish dinner for Trump during his stay through May 28, part of a display meant to showcase the two countries' alliance. The US leader will become the first foreign dignitary to be so honored since the monarch assumed the throne this month. Trump will also play golf with Abe and inspect Japan's Kaga helicopter carrier.

Sweden

Detention hearing for Assange set for June

A Swedish court said on Tuesday it would hold a hearing on June 3 to decide whether to issue a detention order for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on suspicion of rape, the first step toward seeking his extradition from Britain to Sweden. The Uppsala district court said it had taken "both the requirement of a speedy procedure and the right for the suspect to prepare his defense" into consideration when setting the hearing date. Swedish deputy director of public prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson on Monday filed a request with the court to have Assange, currently imprisoned in Britain, detained in his absence over a 2010 rape allegation.

Yemen

Houthi rebels launch fresh drone attack

Yemen's Houthi rebels said they launched a new drone attack on Wednesday on "Saudi military aircrafts hangars" at Najran airport in the Saudi Arabia's border city of Najran, the group TV Al-Masirah reported. It was the second attack on the airport in less than 24 hours. There were no comments yet from the Saudi-led coalition on the fresh Houthi attack. On Tuesday, the coalition said a vital civilian facility in Najran was targeted with a drone-carrying explosives. The Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack and said they targeted an arms depot at Najran airport, causing fire to break out in the facility.

India

Masked men snatch voting machines

About 500 masked men carrying guns and machetes attacked Indian election officials in a remote northeastern state and made off with computerized voting machines, officials said on Wednesday. India's mammoth elections staggered over nearly six weeks ended on Sunday and were largely peaceful. But parties opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alliance have alleged tampering of voting machines and intimidation of election officials in isolated areas. On Sunday, a team of officials was traveling through dense jungle to a polling station in Arunachal Pradesh when it was ambushed, district magistrate Rido Tarek said. Some of the attackers opened fire but there were no casualties, police said.

Australia

Influenza deaths up 200 percent

The number of influenza deaths in Australia since the beginning of the year have tripled from the same period in 2018, the government said on Wednesday. Data released by the Department of Health on Wednesday revealed that 99 people have died from the flu in Australia between Jan 1 and May 20. It is a near 200 percent increase from the 34 deaths in the same period in 2018. The number of cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza was 54,432, a 450 percent from the five-year average of 9,855 and a 304 percent increase from 13,444 in the same period in 2018.

Reuters - Ap - Afp - Xinhua

(China Daily 05/23/2019 page12)