IN BRIEF (Page 11)

DPRK

Launches called 'normal training'

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea said on Wednesday that its recent short-range missile launches were "successful normal training within its own territory", the official KCNA News Agency reported. A spokesman for the Korean People's Army dismissed US allegations that the DPRK was provoking tensions and warned that Washington should not use Pyongyang's missile launches "as an excuse to escalate the situation". From Feb 21 to Tuesday, the KPA conducted several rocket-launching drills. Seven short-range projectiles were fired on Tuesday.

United States

Netanyahu in LA for film premiere

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Hollywood in Los Angeles on Tuesday to attend the premiere of a film that promotes tourism in the Holy Land, shifting the spotlight from his frequent focus on dangers facing his country. Netanyahu attended the premiere at Paramount Studios of Israel: The Royal Tour, a one-hour US public television special that is being broadcast this week.

Sudan

Fighting leaves 15,000 homeless

Recent fighting in Sudan's South Darfur state has displaced more than 15,000 people, UN officials said on Wednesday. The majority of those fleeing have gone to Al Salam and Kalma camps outside the state capital city of Nyala, said Adnan Khan, acting UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan. Khan expressed his deep concern over a report that thousands of people have fled their homes as a result of fresh fighting between armed movements and Sudanese armed forces.

Egypt

Journalists' trial resumes

The trial resumes on Wednesday of Al Jazeera journalists accused of supporting ousted president Mohammed Morsi's banned Muslim Brotherhood, a case that has sparked a global outcry over muzzling of the media. The trial is seen as a test of whether Egypt's military-installed authorities will allow freedom of the media.

Xinhua-Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 03/06/2014 page11)