IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Trump: Trade deals with Tokyo reached

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States had struck "initial" trade agreements with Japan that could be implemented without congressional approval, but stopped short of assuring Japan new tariffs would not be slapped on vital auto exports.

Lilly, Thailand's Greta Thunberg-like activist, wages 'war' on plastic

BANGKOK - Skipping school to glide through a dirty Bangkok canal on a paddleboard, Lilly fishes out rubbish in her mission to clean up Thailand, where the average person uses eight plastic bags every single day.

ROK culls thousands of pigs after confirming African swine fever

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea is culling thousands of pigs after confirming African swine fever at a farm near its northern border.

S. Africa seeks to reassure neighbors after violence

In a bid to restore foreign investors' confidence, South Africa has dispatched high-ranking envoys to several African neighbors to assure them of their citizens' safety in the country.

Leaders say Syrian charter panel ready

ANKARA, Turkey - The presidents of Turkey, Russia and Iran announced on Monday that an agreement has been finally reached on the composition of a committee tasked with rewriting Syria's constitution as part of a political solution to the country's civil war, now in its ninth year.

Iran rules out talks with US as tensions rise

TEHERAN - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on Tuesday that "there will be no talks with the United States at any level", as tensions mount between the two countries after Washington blamed Teheran for attacks on Saudi oil installations, which Iran has denied.

UK's highest court to decide on Johnson's Parliament suspension

The legal battle over British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks went to the United Kingdom's highest court on Tuesday.

Renzi strains Italy coalition in bid for new party

ROME - Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the center-left Democratic Party, or PD, to form his own party, potentially destabilizing the days-old ruling coalition.

Netanyahu's political fate on the line as Israelis vote

JERUSALEM - Israel voted in its second election in five months on Tuesday that will decide whether to extend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's term as the country's longest-serving prime minister despite corruption allegations against him.

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US 'locked and loaded' after oil attack

WASHINGTON - Tensions are flaring in the Persian Gulf after US President Donald Trump said the United States is "locked and loaded" in response to a weekend drone assault on Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure that his secretary of state blamed on Iran.