IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Austria

New chief for IAEA in place by January

The United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it had fixed the timetable for the election of a new director general following the death of Yukiya Amano two weeks ago. Member states decided that nominations would be received until September 5, the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said following a special meeting of its board of governors in Vienna. "The Board expects to appoint a director general in October 2019 and, in any case, envisages that the person appointed will assume office no later than 1 January 2020," it said in a statement. Last week, the IAEA elected Romanian diplomat Cornel Feruta as its acting director general until a permanent successor is elected.

United States

Fighter jet crashes in Death Valley, 7 hurt

A US Navy fighter jet crashed on Wednesday in Death Valley National Park, injuring seven people who were at a scenic overlook where aviation enthusiasts watch military pilots speeding low through a chasm dubbed Star Wars Canyon, officials said. The crash sent dark smoke billowing in the air, said Aaron Cassell, who was working at his family's Panamint Springs Resort about 16 kilometers away and was the first to report the crash to park dispatch. A search was underway for the pilot of the single-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet that was on a routine training mission, said Lydia Bock, spokeswoman for Naval Air Station Lemoore in California's Central Valley. "The status of the pilot is unknown at this time," Bock said about four hours after the crash.

France

IS allegiance found in terror attack inquiry

French investigators have discovered weapons and a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State group after charging three men with planning a terror attack, sources close to the inquiry said on Thursday. The men had not yet decided on a specific target, but had considered attacking a prison guard, another source had told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday. Two of the men are already serving prison sentences, and the letter claiming IS allegiance was found on the third man, one source said on Thursday. All have denied the claims after they were charged last Friday. One of the men was Zakaria Chedili, 31, who was behind bars for spending six months in Syria in 2014 with a group affiliated to al-Qaida, a source said.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/02/2019 page12)