Violence erupts between Thai police and protestors

 

Police in Thailand fired rubber bullets at crowds protesting against the Apec economic summit in Bangkok, a police official in charge of the event's security task force said.

Violence erupted between police and hundreds of protesters near the summit's venue - attended by leaders from around the world.

Videos shared on social media showed demonstrators throwing projectiles, charging at police and trying to overturn a police car; while police advanced on them with shields and beat them back with batons.

A youth activist who was at the demonstration told Reuters news agency that people were also protesting against Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Mr Prayuth first seized power in the 2014 military coup and then retained office in 2019 under a heavily restricted election. He has survived multiple no-confidence votes against him this year.

Ball of Confusion Over Meeting Between Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump in New York on Thursday in a short stop over before traveling on to the APEC summit meeting in Peru.   There's just one problem the Prime Minister's office has had no offical confirmation has to where the meeting will take place or the agenda.  Prime Minister Abe will be the first world leader to officially meet with Donald Trump following his election.  During the campaign Donald Trump made statements which caused great concern in Japan: Stating that both Japan and South Korea should have their own nuclear arsenals (More than 90% of the population in both countries are against them having nuclear weapons.),  neither country contributes enough to the upkeep of American forces in their respective countries (Even though that's not true.) and that he would bring back to America jobs that had been stolen by Japan. (At present Japan doesn't have a large enough workforce to fill its current employment needs.)

Uncertainty over the talks shows the difficulties in turning Trump from a freewheeling businessman into a sitting president with a watertight schedule and a fully functioning administration by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Japanese and U.S. officials said on Wednesday the State Department had not been involved in planning the meeting, leaving the logistical and protocol details that normally would be settled far in advance still to be determined.
“There has been a lot of confusion,” said one Japanese official.

Adding further confusion to the situation the Trump transition people have not consulted with the State Department as to what the protocols are for these meetings. 

This inability to  properly deal with these types of situations will just add the Japanese government's  anxiety about what the policies of the Trump administration will be and if they are even able to deal with the day to day workings of government.