Sweden

3 US economists win Nobel Prize

Three US economists won the 2013 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday for research that has improved the forecasting of asset prices in the long term and helped the emergence of index funds in stock markets. "There is no way to predict the price of stocks and bonds over the next few days or weeks," The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in awarding the prize of 8 million kronor ($1.23 million) to Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller. "But it is quite possible to foresee the broad course of these prices over longer periods, such as the next three to five years. These findings ... were made and analyzed by this year's laureates," the academy said.

Japan

Nation sells engines to UK

Japan has approved the sale of engine parts for use by the British Royal Navy, saying the sale would not violate a ban on Tokyo arms exports, news reports said on Monday. The gas turbine parts, manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, will be produced for Rolls-Royce, which will then supply them to the Royal Navy, the business daily Nikkei and Kyodo News said. The government said the parts were not deemed weapons as they are used in civilian aircraft and emergency generators as well as naval ships, the reports said.

Syria

Car bombing kills at least 20

A powerful car bomb killed at least 20 people in Idlib on Monday, a day after gunmen abducted seven Red Cross aid workers in the northwestern province. Observers said the blast in the town of Darkush killed at least one child and that the death toll could rise because many of the wounded were in serious condition. Activists said the blast targeted the market area of the town, which is a few kilometers from the border with Turkey, on the Orontes River.

United Kingdom

Kerry calls for Syrian summit

US Secretary of State John Kerry and the UN-Arab League envoy for Syria said on Monday that an international conference to set up a Syrian transitional government must be organized and held as soon as possible. "There has to be a transition government, there has to be a new governing entity in Syria in order to permit the possibility of peace," Kerry said. He said it was imperative to get the so-called Geneva II conference organized by the mid-November target the UN has set.

Belgium

Somali pirate kingpin arrested

Belgium has arrested a suspected Somali pirate leader believed to have earned millions of dollars in ransom payments over years of operating off the East African coast, Belgian media reported on Monday.

Reuters-AFP-AP

(China Daily 10/15/2013 page11)