IN BRIEF (Page 11)

China

ETIM denounced for attack support

China reiterated its stance on Wednesday against the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a terrorist group that voiced support for the terrorist attack in Kunming on March 1. ETIM released a video online and expressed support for the attack that killed 29 and injured another 143 people. "It has fully exposed the terrorist nature of the ETIM," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news conference.

Japan

Hunt for Chinese sailors continues

Nearly a dozen Japanese ships and planes scoured a waterway on Wednesday for eight Chinese crew members who went missing after two cargo ships collided at the mouth of Tokyo Bay, the coast guard said. The Panamanian-flagged Beagle III, a 12,630-metric-ton vessel carrying steel coils, sank early on Tuesday after colliding with the South Korean-registered Pegasus Prime in the Uraga waterway, the channel connecting the bay to the Sagami Gulf. Twelve of the 20 Chinese crew members aboard Beagle III were rescued, but one of them later died.

United Kingdom

New 1-pound coin to be issued

Britain will replace its 1-pound coin with a new version modeled on the country's historic threepenny piece, Finance Minister George Osborne announced on Wednesday. The new pound's 12-sided shape and two colored metals will help in the fight against fake currency, the ministry said. The current pound has become vulnerable to sophisticated counterfeiters, the ministry said, with about 3 percent of all 1-pound coins, or 45 million of them, believed to be forgeries.

Iran

FM optimistic about nuke deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said on Wednesday he was optimistic that Teheran and six world powers - China, Russia, the United States, France, Britain and Germany - can reach a broad settlement in their nuclear dispute by the July 20 deadline. Speaking on the second day of talks with the six nations in Vienna, Javad Zarif said negotiations were going well, so far. Asked whether he expected negotiators to meet their deadline, he said, "Yes, I do. ... I am optimistic about July 20".

Turkey

Gunman kills 6 before suicide

A gunman stormed a branch of Turkey's statistics agency on Wednesday and opened fire on his former colleagues, killing six of them before turning the gun on himself, officials said.

Eyup Tepe, the governor of Kars, where the attack took place, said the shooting was not terrorism-related. He said the gunman, identified as Veysi Erin, had been employed as a psychologist at the agency.

AFP-AP-Reuters-Xinhua

(China Daily 03/20/2014 page11)