IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Russia

Moscow dismisses poisoning report

Moscow has scoffed at a report by a group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the investigative group, said on Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov is Anatoly Chepiga, a Russian military intelligence colonel. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. "There is no proof - so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday.

United States

Pompeo to visit DPRK next month

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea next month to prepare for a second summit between top leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, the State Department said on Wednesday. Pompeo was invited by Kim to Pyongyang, "to make further progress on the implementation" of agreements made during a June summit in Singapore between Kim and Trump and to set up another leaders' meeting, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

Turkey

Germany urged to designate group

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the eve of a visit to Germany, urged it to designate as a terrorist organization the Fethullah Gulen movement, which Turkey blames for a 2016 coup attempt. Germany has previously rejected this request, saying it needs more proof linking the network of supporters of the US-based cleric, which Turkey labels the Gulenist Terrorist Organization, to the failed attempt to overthrow the Turkish government. Relations between Ankara and Berlin have been badly strained after the failed coup.

India

Air Force vice-chief shoots himself

Air Marshal Shirish Baban Deo, vice-chief of the Indian Air Force, accidentally shot himself in the thigh while storing his official weapon after the day's work, media reports said on Thursday. He was given medical aid and is said to be stable and out of danger. Deo was rushed to a military hospital in New Delhi on Wednesday evening where he underwent a surgery and his femur bone was set, said official sources.

Afp - Ap - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 09/28/2018 page12)