World briefs

VIETNAM’s government is scrapping plans to construct the country’s first two nuclear power plants, citing slowing demand for electricity and the declining price of other sources of energy, state media reported yesterday.

SINGAPORE Police identified Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, as a “key person of interest” in a money laundering probe surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

JAPAN A Japanese official says Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump next week. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters yesterday that Abe and Trump had talked by telephone and confirmed the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and their commitment for cooperation.

INDIA‘s industry leaders, bankers and market analysts have rallied behind Modi’s decision to recall all 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes, viewing it as a much-needed corrective in a cash-reliant culture that has facilitated corruption.

IRAN’s semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the armed forces chief of staff has criticized Donald Trump for his past harsh words about confronting Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf. The report quotes Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying, “The person who has recently achieved power, has talked off the top of his head! Threatening Iran in the Persian Gulf is just a joke.”

RUSSIA Business-focused social network LinkedIn faces being blocked in Russia after a court ruled it broke a law on data storage. Moscow city court spokeswoman Ulyana Solopova said the court rejected an appeal yesterday by LinkedIn against a district court’s decision that the company had broken a law that requires personal data on Russian citizens to be stored on servers within Russia.

CYPRUS authorities say they are towing a boat crammed with as many as 150 people believed to by Syrian migrants to a harbor. The boat is believed to have set off from Mersin, Turkey.

TURKEY  A Turkish judge assigned to a United Nations war crimes panel has been detained by Turkish authorities in the aftermath of a failed coup in July, despite having diplomatic immunity, a senior judge said Wednesday.

CHINA-BRITAIN China’s vice-premier is holding talks with Britain’s Treasury chief as the two countries try to smooth over a rocky patch in their growing economic relationship. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is meeting a delegation led by Vice Premier Ma Kai as Britain seeks more Chinese investment in U.K. infrastructure.