IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Turkey

Govt ends 2-year state of emergency

Turkey's state of emergency which was imposed after the failed 2016 coup came to an end on Thursday. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the state of emergency on July 20, 2016, five days after warplanes bombed Ankara and bloody clashes broke out in Istanbul in a doomed putsch bid that claimed 249 lives. The measure, which normally lasts three months but was extended seven times, ended at 1 am on Thursday, the state-run Anadolu news agency said, after the government decided not to ask that it be extended for an eighth time.

Dprk

US to receive soldiers' remains

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the United States will receive the first group of soldiers' remains from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the next couple of weeks. Pompeo said that on his third trip to the DPRK since assuming the job, progress has been made regarding repatriating the remains of US soldiers killed during the Korean War (1950-53). Pompeo said on Sunday that both US and DPRK officials agreed to restart field operations in the DPRK to search for the estimated 5,300 missing soldiers.

United Kingdom

Police 'identify' Novichok suspects

Police believe they have identified suspects who carried out the Novichok attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in the city of Salisbury, the Press Association reported on Thursday. Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed in Salisbury on March 4 after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok. Both have since recovered. Britain blamed Russia for the poisoning but Russia has denied any involvement. The incident sparked a diplomatic row that has led to tit-for-tat expulsions.

Afp - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 07/20/2018 page12)