IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Iran

Army begins massive drill

Iran's national army has begun a massive military drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, state TV reported on Thursday. General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, chief of the Army's ground forces, said the maneuvers are aimed at "transferring experience" to younger generations of Iranian soldiers. The report said the weeklong exercise will be carried out over 527,000 square kilometers in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, the Sea of Oman and the eastern part of the passage, through which one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes.

Israel

Police arrest 24 officials in probe

Israeli police have arrested more than two dozen current and former officials in a corruption probe, including several from the party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a police spokeswoman said on Thursday. Local media reported that the investigation was one of the most "important" anti-graft operations in the country's history and could strike a blow to Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party just three months away from a general election.

Thailand

PM need not be parliamentarian

Thailand's Constitution Drafting Committee has agreed that the future prime minister is not required to be an elected member of the country's parliament, a CDC spokesman said on Thursday. This is to allow an outsider to assume the role in case of political deadlock, Khamnoon Sitthisaman said. Under normal circumstances, the House will elect a member of the National Assembly to the post.

India

Rebels push death toll to 72

Police says the death toll from rebel violence in remote northeastern India has risen to 72 with the recovery of more bodies from abandoned villages. S.N. Singh, a police official in Assam, said on Thursday that two districts where separatist rebels gunned down Adivasi tribe members remained tense but calm with no fresh violence in the last 24 hours. Authorities have said rebels belonging to a faction of an indigenous separatist group called the National Democratic Front of Bodoland attacked tribal settlers known as Adivasi late on Tuesday.

Mexico

Govt to ban gillnet fishing

Mexican authorities are proposing a $37 million plan to ban gillnet fishing in most of the upper Sea of Cortez to save the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise. The plan would compensate fishermen for stopping the use of nets that often sweep up the tiny porpoises along with their catch. Recent reports suggest there are fewer than 100 of the shy, elusive porpoises left in the Sea of Cortez. The gulf is the only place on Earth where the marine mammals are found.

Reuters - AP - Xinhua

(China Daily 12/26/2014 page11)