News in Brief

China's Xi on first Southeast Asia trip
Afp, Jakarta

Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday arrived in Indonesia on his first trip to Southeast Asia since taking power, as Beijing seeks to tap into the country's booming economy.
After his visit to Indonesia, Xi will head to neighbouring Malaysia and then a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

US expels Venezuela charge d'affaires
CARACAS

The United States has expelled Venezuela's charge d'affaires in Washington and two other diplomats in reprisal for the expulsion of three American diplomats from Caracas, both countries said late Tuesday.
The tit-for-tat move came a day after the expulsion of the Americans, accused of plotting acts of sabotage against the government, the foreign ministry in Caracas said.
It called the American move unjustified, saying the Venezuelan diplomats had not been meeting with people opposed to President Barack Obama.

Russia charges 5 Greenpeace activists with piracy
Afp, Moscow

Russian investigators yesterday charged five Greenpeace campaigners with piracy over an open-sea protest against Arctic oil drilling, the environmental group said, calling the move an "outrage".
The charge against the activists -- a Briton, a Finn, a Brazilian, a Russian and a dual US-Swedish citizen -- dimmed hopes that 25 others detained over the protest could be indicted on a lesser charge. Piracy by an organised group carries a punishment of between 10 and 15 years.

World population may hit 9.7b in 2050: Study
Afp, Paris

The world's population will rise to 9.7 billion in 2050 from the current level of 7.1 billion and India will overtake China as the world's most populous nation, a French study said yesterday.
A bi-annual report by the French Institute of Demographic Studies (Ined) projected there would be 10 to 11 billion people on the planet by the end of the century.
The projections ran parallel to forecasts by the United Nations, the World Bank and other prominent national institutes.