IN BRIEF (Page 12)

RUSSIA

Govt ready to play role in Venezuela talks

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that Moscow was ready to play a role in talks in Oslo between the Venezue lan government and opposition if the participants felt it was useful. Norway said on Saturday that representatives of Venezuela's government and opposition would return to Oslo following an initial round of preliminary talks about how to address the country's political crisis. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it welcomed renewed talks, but warned against any external powers trying to foist ultimatums on the Venezuelan leadership.

AUSTRALIA

Albanese set to be opposition leader

Veteran Sydney lawmaker Anthony Albanese will become Australia's new opposition leader this week, after being made head of the Labor Party on Monday. A member of Parliament for 23 years, Albanese served as a Cabinet minister under Labor governments for six years, and was briefly deputy prime minister under Kevin Rudd in 2013. Albanese said he will "strongly" and "forcefully" hold Prime Minister Scott Morrison's newly reelected government to account.

FRANCE

Police arrest suspect in Lyon bomb blast

Police have arrested a man suspected of being behind last week's bomb blast in the central city of Lyon that injured 13 people, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Monday. Castaner announced the arrest on Twitter, but did not provide further details on the suspect or where he was arrested. Security camera footage showed the partially masked suspect wheeling a bicycle to the scene, before leaving a bag outside a branch of a popular bakery chain. The case is being handled as a terrorism investigation.

YEMEN

UNICEF: 7 children killed in attack

Seven children were killed in an attack on the city of Taez last week, UNICEF said in a statement on Sunday. The victims, aged between four and 14, "were killed on Friday in an attack on the Mawiyah district", UNICEF added. Taez, in southern Yemen, is under siege by Houthi rebels but controlled by pro-government forces. "This attack brings to 27 the number of children killed and injured in a recent escalation of violence near Sanaa and in Taez over the past 10 days," UNICEF said.

MEXICO

Japanese dies from cocaine overdose

Mexican prosecutors said on Sunday that a Japanese man who died aboard an airliner shortly after takeoff from Mexico City had ingested 246 packets of cocaine and went into cardiac arrest from an overdose. The prosecutor's office said other passengers reported seeing the man convulsing in the early hours of Friday as the jetliner headed for Narita, Japan. Authorities identified the man only as "Udo N" and said he had traveled to Mexico's capital from Bogota, Colombia.

Reuters - Afp - Ap

(China Daily 05/28/2019 page12)