World briefs

CHINA In an unusual step, China’s ceremonial legislature is due to endorse a law meant to help end a bruising tariff war with Washington by discouraging officials from pressuring foreign companies to hand over technology. 

MALAYSIA is open to new proposals from U.S. technology firm Ocean Infinity or any other companies to resume the hunt for Flight 370, as families of passengers marked the fifth anniversary of the jet’s mysterious disappearance.

PHILIPPINES The number of cases of measles in the Philippines has exceeded almost 15,000 and the count is still rising even as the government steps up its campaign against a vaccine scare that was triggered by deaths allegedly caused by Dengvaxia, a vaccine against dengue.

SOUTH KOREA and the U.S. are eliminating their massive springtime military drills and replacing them with smaller exercises in what they call an effort to support diplomacy aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis. 

KASHMIR Residents near the disputed boundary in divided Kashmir region said yesterday it was quiet overnight, their first lull since a dangerous escalation between Pakistan and India erupted last week bringing the two nuclear-armed rivals close to full-out war.

ESTONIANS are voted in a parliamentary election yesterday in the small Baltic nation in a ballot where Prime Minister Juri Ratas (pictured) and his Center Party are pitted against the center-right opposition Reform Party and where populists are seen making inroads.

USA President Donald Trump denounced Democrats as the party of “the socialist nightmare,” relitigated his crowd sizes back to the inauguration and took on “sick,” ‘’lunatic” and “dirty” foes at every turn, earning him the unvarnished adoration of cheering conservatives.

USA Bernie Sanders kicked off his presidential campaign this weekend miles from the rent-controlled apartment where he grew up in Brooklyn and forcefully made the case that he is nothing like fellow New Yorker Donald Trump, proclaiming himself the Democrat best prepared to beat the incumbent in 2020.

SPACE SpaceX’s sleek, new crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station yesterday, acing its second milestone in just over a day. No one was aboard the Dragon capsule launched Saturday on its first test flight, only an instrumented dummy.