FOUR CHINESE SHIPS IN DISPUTED WATERS
TOKYO: Four Chinese government ships sailed into the territorial waters of disputed islands controlled by Tokyo in the East China Sea on Friday, Japan’s coastguard said. The maritime surveillance vessels entered the 12-nautical-mile zone around Kubashima, one of the islands in the chain called the Senkakus by Japan and the Diaoyus by China. Chinese vessels have been spotted in and around the territorial waters almost every day for the last two months. Beijing on Monday branded a US-Japan security treaty “a product of the Cold War” when Washington lawmakers reiterated their support for Japan by passing amendment to the National Defense Authorization Bill.

VIETNAM BUSTS CHINA, TAIWAN FAKE POLICE SCAM
HANOI: Vietnamese state media on Friday said authorities had busted an elaborate telephone scam in which victims in China and Taiwan were tricked into handing over money by callers posing as police officers. Police in Vietnam’s southern city of Ho Chi Minh confirmed that 52 people, all from China and Taiwan, were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of involvement in the fraud, without giving further detail. The accused are believed to have called randomly-selected numbers in China and Taiwan and pretended to be police officers and prosecutors to persuade victims to wire money to bank accounts they had access to, media reports said.

INDONESIA’S SPORTS MINISTER RESIGNS AMID GRAFT PROBE
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s sports minister stepped down Friday after being named a suspect in a multi-million-dollar corruption case, in the latest scandal to hit the president’s ruling party ahead of 2014 elections. Andi Mallarangeng is the first minister to resign on graft allegations since the country’s powerful Corruption Eradication Commission began operating in 2003 with a mandate to crack down on rampant graft