World Briefs

CHINA has created five new military regions covering the country as part of a continuing drive to reorganize and streamline the 2.3 million-member PLA. The north, south, east, west and central regions replace the seven previous regions. The new districts are being touted as better suited to command joint operations while further indicating President Xi Jinping’s firm hold over the armed forces.

THAILAND says it has accelerated its fight against human trafficking and unregulated fishing. Bangkok says in the past eight months it has investigated 36 cases, arrested 102 suspects and rescued 130 presumed trafficking victims. In the 16 months prior to that, only 15 cases were investigated. The EU has warned Thailand that its seafood may be banned if it fails to institute effective measures against unregulated fishing.

JAPAN Toyota Motor Corp. said it will suspend vehicle production in Japan for six days this month due to a shortage of parts. The automaker said the shortage stems from a Jan. 8 explosion at a steel plant. Vehicle production in Japan will be suspended from Feb. 8 to Feb. 13. Overseas production lines aren’t affected.
Afghanistan A suicide car bombing aimed at a police base in Kabul kills at least one person and wounds another 16.

IRAN says it now has access to more than USD100 billion worth of frozen overseas assets following the implementation of the nuclear deal with world powers. Much of the money had been piling up in banks in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey since international sanctions were tightened in 2012 over Tehran’s nuclear program. The comments were posted on the website of state-run Press TV yesterday.

GREECE The government enters a new round of talks with its creditors, skeptical about the depth and efficacy of its pension reform plans, facing protests over those plans from a broad spectrum of professions. Talks with the quartet of creditors — the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism and the International Monetary Fund — were resuming at press time.

UK Britain’s fertility regulator has approved a scientist’s application to edit the human genetic code using a new technique that some fear crosses too many ethical boundaries. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority says it has granted research led by scientist Kathy Niakan to try to understand the genes that human embryos need to develop successfully.

NIGERIAN residents say multiple bombings of Agip oil pipelines have caused thousands of barrels of oil to pollute waterways, farms and fishing grounds in southern Bayelsa state. Fishermen say oil flowed unchecked for two days. The Italian parent company ENI says 16,000 barrels of oil per day were lost and the company yesterday began working to resume production.