Briefs | Law allows Emperor Akihito to abdicate 

Japan’s parliament on Friday passed a law allowing Emperor Akihito to become the country’s first monarch to abdicate in 200 years, but put off a debate over how to tackle the shrinking royal population and whether to allow women to ascend the throne. In veiled language, the 83-year-old emperor expressed his wish to abdicate last August, citing his old age and health. Under the law enacted Friday, his abdication must take place within three years.

Australia decides to toughen parole laws

Australian government leaders on Friday agreed to toughen parole laws in response to a siege this week in which a gunman who once trained with Muslim extremists killed an apartment building receptionist and wounded three police officers months after being released early from prison. Federal and state government leaders agreed at a summit to change Australia’s laws so that extremists were less likely to be freed on bail when charged or on parole after serving a minimum prison sentence.

Key rebel leader reportedly dies in Myanmar

The leader of a key insurgent group in India’s remote northeast has died in a hospital in Myanmar nearly two years after he called off peace talks with the Indian government, an official said Saturday. Nagaland state police chief L.L. Doungel said S.S. Khaplang, head of a faction of the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland, died of renal failure Friday in Taga region, his outfit’s headquarters. He was 77. Doungel said his information was based on intelligence reports. Khaplang called off peace talks with India in 2015 after 14 years of futile negotiations and resumed his fight for an independent Naga homeland.