IN BRIEF (Page 8)

China Daily | Updated: 2019-10-26 06:38

UNITED KINGDOM

EU nod for Brexit delay puts poll back in frame

The European Union agreed to London's request for a Brexit deadline extension on Friday but set no new departure date. The decision gives Britain's divided Parliament time to decide on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's call for an early election. "There was full agreement on the need for an extension," an EU official said after ambassadors to the 27 other EU member states met to discuss postponing Britain's exit from the bloc, less than a week before the current deadline of Oct 31. "Work will continue over the weekend," he said, adding that the envoys would meet again in Brussels on Monday or Tuesday.

SYRIA

300 Russian troops arrive for Syria patrols

About 300 more Russian military police officers have arrived in Syria to patrol the flashpoint Syrian-Turkish frontier, the Defence Ministry said on Friday. The military police, who arrived from the Russian region of Chechnya, will work to ensure the safety of the population and help Kurdish forces withdraw to a line 30 kilometers from the border, Moscow said, under an accord between Turkey and Russia which halted Turkey's military incursion into northeast Syria. More than 20 armored vehicles were also sent to Syria to help carry out the tasks, the ministry said in a statement. Russian military police conducted the first patrols on Wednesday.

JAPAN

Trade minister quits over vote-buying row

Japan's Trade Minister Isshu Sugawara resigned on Friday a month into his job in a scandal over condolence money, expensive melons and other gifts allegedly offered to election supporters. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accepted the offer to resign and replaced Sugawara with Hiroshi Kajiyama, formerly the minister in charge of local revitalization and regulatory reform. Sugawara, 57, tendered his resignation just before he was to face questions from opposition lawmakers about the vote-buying allegations later on Friday, a day after more tabloid reports about his scandal came out.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/26/2019 page8)