IN BRIEF (Page 11)

China

Victims in camp not identified

Beijing said on Monday that it was too soon to say whether about 200 people rescued by police from a human trafficking camp in southern Thailand were illegal migrants from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. China and Thailand's cooperation in law and order and security is open and smooth, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. "As of now, identity checks are still being carried out, and it's not reasonable to reach conclusions at present," Hong said.

United States

Obama restarts talks with Abbas

US President Barack Obama met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to break the standstill in Middle East peace talks and keep Abbas from walking away. The meeting came despite few signs that the Palestinians and Israelis are prepared to budge on key points. It marks a renewed foray into a diplomatic minefield that Obama has mostly left up to his Secretary of State John Kerry. While Kerry remains deeply involved, his attention is divided among undertakings in the Middle East and the crisis in Ukraine.

Thailand

Govt, opposition urged to talk

Six independent Thai organizations asked the government and anti-government protesters on Monday to nominate mediators to broker talks between the two sides. In a joint statement, they asked Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary general of the People's Democratic Reform Committee, to each name 10 people as mediators. From the 20 named, 10 will be selected, five for each side, according to the statement.

Italy

PM to cut F-35 fighter jet order

Italy may cut its order for 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets as part of broad reductions in public spending, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Sunday. Renzi said Italy wants to trim $4.18 billion from its defense budget in the next three years by closing barracks and forgoing some big-ticket items like the F-35. "We will continue with our international programs, we will continue with a strong air force, but that program will be revised," he said in an interview on local TV station Canale 5.

Libya

US navy boards escaped tanker

US Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker late on Sunday that escaped on March 12 from a Libyan port with armed men at the helm, the US Defense Department said. Libyan anti-government rebels, who are calling for a greater share of oil wealth and autonomy, had loaded crude oil onto the 37,000-ton tanker, which escaped from the Libyan navy, embarrassing the central government and prompting parliament to vote the prime minister out of office.

China Daily-Reuters-Xinhua-AP

(China Daily 03/18/2014 page11)