IN BRIEF (Page 12)

South Korea

Tokyo 'dishonest' over wartime past

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday berated Japan for carrying out its plan to downgrade South Korea's trade status and reiterated that Tokyo was weaponizing trade to retaliate over political rows stemming from the countries' wartime history. He said in a Cabinet meeting that Japan is being dishonest by insisting that its trade curbs are not related to historical disagreements, including South Korean court rulings that called for Japanese companies to offer reparations to aging South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during World War II. "Japan has yet to even state an honest reason for its economic retaliation.... No matter what excuse it provides as justification, it is clear that the Japanese government has linked historical issues to economic matters," Moon said.

Venezuela

Maduro optimistic on talks with opposition

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he will announce "good news about the dialogue process" with the opposition "in the next few days". In a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency, Maduro said "we have established initial talks to get closer" to agreements. The Venezuelan government resumed dialogue with the opposition after briefly walking away from the table to protest stepped-up US sanctions in early August, he said. The talks brokered by Norway were being held in Barbados before they were suspended. "I can report that we have resumed contact with the government of Norway, there have been several meetings, (and) we have resumed contact with the representatives of the Venezuelan opposition," Maduro said.

Yemen

UAE accused of launching airstrikes

The Yemeni government on Thursday accused the United Arab Emirates of launching airstrikes against its troops in the southern city of Aden in support of separatist fighters. "The Yemeni government condemns the Emirati airstrikes against government forces in the interim capital Aden and in Zinjibar, which resulted in civilian and military casualties," Yemeni Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hadhrami said in a tweet. Meanwhile, A government security source confirmed that Aden was under the full control of the separatist Southern Transitional Council, saying government troops who entered parts of the city a day earlier "withdrew from Aden" to Abyan Province.

Ukraine

Death toll in building collapse rises to 8

The number of people killed in the collapse of an apartment building in western Ukraine rose sharply to eight, including one child, Ukrainian state emergencies service said on Thursday. The apartment building collapsed in the small town of Drohobych in the Lviv region on Wednesday night. The state service said a gas explosion could be the cause and that it had completed the rescue operation.

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 08/30/2019 page12)