IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Japan

Tokyo won't join US-led Gulf coalition

Japan will not join a US-led security mission to protect merchant vessels passing through key Middle Eastern waterways, but will consider deploying its naval force independently, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday. Though the United States is Japan's most important ally, Tokyo has fostered economic ties with Iran, and Japanese firms had been major buyers of Iranian oil until US sanctions forced them to find other suppliers. Citing unidentified government sources, the Yomiuri said Japan was considering a plan to send its Maritime Self-Defense Force on information-gathering missions in the areas around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab shipping lane between Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea.

India

Oil and gas plant fire claims four lives

An explosion triggered a fire on Tuesday at a state-run oil and gas processing plant in western India, killing four people, officials said. Police officer V. Damgude said the four dead were three firefighters and one plant executive. Press Trust of India news agency said another three firefighters were injured and hospitalized. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, which runs the plant, said on Twitter that the fire started in the stormwater drainage in the plant and was doused within two hours. More than 20 fire engines rushed to the scene in Navi Mumbai township near Mumbai. The state-owned ONGC is India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company.

Agencies

(China Daily 09/04/2019 page12)