IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United States

Senate rebukes Saudi Arabia over Yemen war

The US Senate sent a fresh warning to President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday by greenlighting a vote that could end US military support for Riyadh's war in Yemen. Anger at the human cost of the war, as well as outrage over the killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, have prompted a harder line in Congress about the US military's role in backing the Saudi-led coalition fighting to bolster the Yemeni government against Houthi rebels. That would be a direct challenge to Trump, who has stressed the importance of US trade and military relations with the kingdom.

Mexico

Govt to regulate southern border entry

Mexico's top security official said on Wednesday that the government will close off illegal entries at its southern border with Guatemala, but didn't say how the country plans to do it. Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero also said the migrant caravans that crossed the southern border in October "is no longer an issue". The new government has mobilized material and equipment to improve conditions at the migrants' shelter in the northern border city of Tijuana, but problems continue because the Central Americans there are frustrated by the slow pace at which US officials are processing asylum requests.

Korean Peninsula

Ceremony for rail, road connection agreed

The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea agreed on Thursday to hold a groundbreaking ceremony later this month for railway and road connections across the inter-Korean border, Seoul's Unification Ministry said. The ceremony, which ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un agreed to hold before the end of this year during their third summit in Pyongyang in September, will be held on Dec 26 at the Panmun Station in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong. About 100 respective officials from the ROK would attend the ceremony. The two sides agreed to discuss further details, according to the ROK ministry.

Middle East

Attacker stabs Israeli officers, is killed

A Palestinian stabbed and injured two police officers in East Jerusalem's Old City on Thursday morning before he was shot dead by Israeli forces, Israel's police said. The officers were member of the Border Police and were identified as a 19-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man. They were lightly injured, according to the hospitals to which they were evacuated. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the assailant, identified only as a 26-year-old man from the West Bank, first attempted to stab an Israeli civilian, who was not injured.

Australia

NSW will ban mobile phones in schools

The New South Wales state government in Australia announced on Thursday that they will ban mobile phones and smart devices in schools in an attempt to improve student performance and quell the rising number of online bullying cases. "Distraction and bullying have always been issues for schools to deal with but mobile phones present a new challenge for schools, teachers, parents and students," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement. While the ban will be in full effect in the state's primary schools for children aged between 5-12, high schools will be given the option to opt in or "introduce measures to more tightly restrict the use of devices during school hours".

Afp - Ap - Xinhua

(China Daily 12/14/2018 page12)