IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Thailand

Govt can control shutdown: PM

The Thai government is capable of controlling the situation during a planned "Bangkok shutdown" by protesters on Monday, caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Friday, adding that people should go about their business as usual. Yingluck said more than 20,000 police and troops would be deployed in critical areas of Bangkok on Monday to maintain order.

Israel

New settlements announced

Israel announced plans on Friday to build more than 1,800 new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, settlement watchdog Peace Now said. The housing ministry announced the plans for 1,076 units in annexed east Jerusalem and 801 in the occupied West Bank, Peace Now spokesman Lior Amihai told AFP. The report comes a week after US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region to push Israeli and Palestinian leaders toward an elusive peace deal.

Turkey

Judges slap planned reforms

Turkey's top judicial body on Friday slapped down the government's plans to curb its powers, calling the proposed reforms unconstitutional. "With the amendment, the board is reporting to the justice ministry. The amendment is against the constitution and the formation of an independent body," the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors said in a written statement.

United States

Spill triggers tap water ban

A chemical spill along a West Virginia river triggered a ban on using tap water for about 300,000 people, shutting down schools, bars and restaurants, and forcing residents to line up to buy bottled water. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for nine counties after 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, a chemical used in the coal industry, reportedly leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries and overran a containment area on Thursday.

Iraq

Kurds slammed for oil sales

Iraq's oil ministry sharply criticized the autonomous Kurdish region on Friday for its move to sell oil independently, saying it was a violation of the constitution and amounts to smuggling. The statement came after Kurdish authorities announced that its first shipment of crude oil exported directly to Turkey had gone on sale, with more to follow. It was the latest chapter in a long-running feud between the federal government and the Kurdistan region over natural resources.

Xinhua-AP-AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 01/11/2014 page8)