IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Turkey

US decision to halt visas is 'upsetting'

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday condemned the decision by the US embassy to stop nonimmigrant visa services in Turkey amid a diplomatic row. "The embassy's decision to suspend all nonimmigrant visa applications is upsetting," Erdogan said in a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Porochenko in Ukraine's capital Kiev, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The president said he had suggested Turkish Foreign Ministry officials respond "based on the rules of reciprocity".

Japan

Govt accountable in Fukushima accident

A court on Tuesday ordered the Japanese government and the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant to pay 500 million yen ($4.5 million) to thousands of former residents who demanded compensation for their livelihoods lost in the 2011 nuclear crisis. The Fukushima District Court said the government had failed to order Tokyo Electric Power to improve safety measures despite knowing as early as 2002 of a risk of a massive tsunami in the region. The Fukushima nuclear disaster ranks as the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.

Thailand

General election in November 2018

Prime Minister Prayut Chano-cha said on Tuesday that a general election will be held in November 2018. The premier told reporters at Government House that the exact date will be announced by June 2018. Prayut's government, which came into power in May 2014, has announced election dates at least two times in the past but delayed both, citing security issues and changes to the Constitution. Prayuth said the government will consider lifting a ban on political activities but not until after late October.

United States

Texas Tech police officer shot dead

Authorities apprehended a 19-year-old student accused of fatally shooting a Texas Tech University police officer at the campus police station. University officials issued an alert saying the suspect was taken into custody on Monday night and that the campus lockdown order had been lifted. In an earlier statement, the university identified the suspect as Hollis Daniels. The university said a confrontation began after campus police found evidence of drugs in Daniels' room.

AFP - Xinhua - AP

(China Daily 10/11/2017 page11)