IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Germany

CIA expulsion 'unavoidable'

Germany's decision to ask the CIA station chief in Berlin to leave the country was an adequate and inevitable response following fresh allegations of US spying on Berlin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Friday. The decision to expel the CIA station chief came after new reports of US espionage activity in Germany. "Taking action was unavoidable, in my opinion. We need, and expect, a relationship based on trust," Steinmeier said.

Thailand

Elephant killed in sanctuary

Poachers have killed and sawed the tusks off a 50-year-old elephant that performed in Thai royal processions and was featured in Oliver Stone's 2004 movie Alexander, the manager of the conservation center where the animal was kept said on Friday. Laithongrian Meephan of the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal said the elephant was found dead Friday morning. Poachers had apparently poisoned it before cutting off its tusks. The center breeds and trains elephants, and also serves as a retirement home for aging beasts.

United States

Man executed for rape, murder

Florida has executed a man for the 1994 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. Eddie Wayne Davis was executed by lethal injection on Thursday evening. It was the state's seventh execution this year. The 45-year-old Davis was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery in the slaying of Kimberly Waters, the daughter of a woman Davis had dated briefly.

Netherlands

Storm disrupts country; 1 dead

A heavy storm with torrential rain left one man dead in Amsterdam on Friday and created disruptions in other parts of the country. In Amsterdam, high winds felled trees, and water flooded basements. On Tuesday the Dutch weather institute issued a code yellow warning for dangerous weather in the provinces of Gelderland, North-Brabant and Limburg. Early on Friday a similar warning was also announced for Amsterdam and North Holland province.

United Kingdom

Church to vote on female bishops

The Church of England gathered on Friday for its most important meeting in more than 20 years to decide whether women should be allowed to serve as bishops, after decades of division on the issue. Bishops, vicars and ordinary members of the church are gathering in a General Synod focused on Monday's vote over an issue that has split the church for at least half a century. A proposal to allow female bishops was rejected as recently as 2012, prompting a public outcry.

AP-Reuters-Xinhua

(China Daily 07/12/2014 page8)