IN BRIEF (Page 8)

United States

Govt threatens to close border

US President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to deploy the military and close the southern US border if Mexico does not halt a caravan of Central America migrants heading north, raising the risk of huge disruptions to trade. Stretching almost 3,200 kilometers, the US-Mexican border is one of the busiest in the world, processing thousands of commuters daily and much of the half a trillion dollars of annual trade between Mexico and the US. "I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the US military and close our southern border!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

Middle East

US downgrades Palestinian mission

The United States downgraded its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians on Thursday, placing it under the authority of the US embassy to Israel. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the consulate general, a separate office which handled dealings with the Palestinians, would be replaced by a new Palestinian Affairs Unit inside the controversial new US embassy in Jerusalem. The Palestinians have been boycotting the US since it recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. They want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state, while Israel wants all of Jerusalem to be its capital.

Afghanistan

Taliban attack kills senior officials

Afghanistan was reeling on Friday, a day after an assassination claimed by the Taliban that killed two senior officials in Kandahar province while the top US commander who attended the high-level meeting where the attack happened was unharmed. Thursday's meeting, on security plans for the country's parliamentary elections this weekend, had just concluded when an elite Afghan guard turned his gun on the departing Afghan delegation, killing the powerful Kandahar police chief and at least one other senior official. Taliban said the top US commander in the country, General Scott Miller, was the target.

Reuters - Ap - Xinhua

(China Daily 10/20/2018 page8)