AFP, Tokyo
Japan and the United States launched a joint naval drill Thursday in a show of force aimed at North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions dominated US President Donald Trump’s recent Asia trip.
The 10-day exercise, joined by some 14,000 US servicemen, aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the guided-missile destroyers USS Stethem, USS Chafee and USS Mustin, among others, “will take place in waters surrounding Okinawa” in southern Japan, the US navy said in a statement.
Thailand plans joint arms factory with China
Reuters, Bangkok
Thailand’s defense technology agency plans to set up a joint center with China to produce and maintain military equipment in the latest sign of the strengthening security relationship since a 2014 coup.
The plans to establish the facility – and discussions on a Chinese naval center to serve submarines Thailand ordered this year – point to a growing Chinese security presence in the oldest U.S. ally in the region as elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Turkey bans German gay film festival
AFP, Ankara
Turkish authorities have banned a festival of German-language gay films due to kick off in the capital Ankara Thursday on the grounds it could incite hatred and be at risk from a terror attack.
The festival organisers, Pink Life QueerFest, planned to screen four films by German directors over two days at cinemas in the Turkish capital, in an event backed by the German embassy. But the Ankara governor’s office said late Wednesday the festival’s content “could incite hatred and enmity towards another section of society.”
Quake in S Korea left 1,500 homeless
AP, Seoul
A 5.4 magnitude earthquake that was South Korea’s second-strongest in decades damaged infrastructure, injured dozens of people and left about 1,500 homeless, officials said Thursday.
No deaths have been reported since the quake rattled the southeastern coastal region around the port city of Pohang on Wednesday afternoon.
As of Thursday morning, 1,536 people had been forced to evacuate their homes and 57 people were injured, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said in a statement.
Ohio calls off execution after failing to find inmate’s vein
AP, Lucasville
Ohio called off the execution of an ailing 69-year-old killer Wednesday after the executioners couldn’t find a vein to insert the IV that delivers the lethal drugs.
It was only the third time in modern U.S. history that an execution attempt was halted after the process had begun. Alva Campbell, condemned to die for killing a teenager during a carjacking two decades ago, was promptly given a new execution date by Republican Gov. John Kasich that is a year and a half away.
