Vietnam delays ratification of TPP

HANOI • Vietnam will not include ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on its agenda for its next Parliament session, an official said yesterday, adding to uncertainty over the future of US President Barack Obama's signature trade deal.

The delay means that at the earliest, ratification by Vietnam would be several months after the US presidential election in November, the run-up to which has seen its trade policy come under heavy domestic scrutiny.

REUTERS

Court nod for relocating Okinawa base

TOKYO • A court yesterday approved Tokyo's plan to relocate a US military base on Okinawa in a move unlikely to immediately resolve a long-running spat between the central and local authorities.

Tokyo wants to move the unpopular US airbase in a crowded residential district on Okinawa to a sparsely populated area in its north, but many locals want the base moved off the island altogether. The dispute has seen Okinawan governor Takeshi Onaga and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government file rival lawsuits.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE