World Briefs

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named Time’s Person of the Year, praised yesterday by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis. Time also cited Merkel’s strong response to “Vladimir Putin’s creeping theft of Ukraine” and on its cover called her “Chancellor of the Free World.”

INDONESIA Millions of Indonesians vote in nationwide elections for regional leaders in the sprawling archipelago.

INDONESIA A strong earthquake strikes off the coast of eastern Indonesia, but officials say there is no threat of a tsunami.

AFGHANISTAN  A Taliban assault on an airport in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar that has been underway for nearly 24 hours has killed 37 people, the Defense Ministry said yesterday. A ministry statement said the assault, which began on Tuesday, also left 35 people wounded. It said nine attackers have been killed and one wounded. By yesterday evening, one remaining attacker was still battling security forces, the statement said.

PAKISTAN  Representatives of over two dozen countries are gathering in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to seek joint efforts to bring peace to war-torn Afghanistan.
JAPAN Police in Tokyo arrest a South Korean man suspected of causing an explosion last month in a public restroom at a controversial shrine in Tokyo that honors Japanese war dead.

MYANMAR inaugurates a stock exchange with plans for six companies to start trading in March.

SYRIA  Dozens of insurgents began evacuating their last stronghold in Syria’s central city of Homs yesterday as part of a local deal with government forces that allows them safe passage to areas in the country’s north.

USA Asian countries are aging faster than has been seen anywhere else in the world, and they need to urgently reform pension systems and encourage more women to enter the labor force, the World Bank says.

GERMANY Volkswagen said yesterday that a problem with carbon dioxide emissions is far smaller than initially suspected, with further checks finding “slight discrepancies” in only a few models and no evidence of illegal changes to fuel consumption and emissions figures.

GREECE  A wooden smuggling boat carrying about 50 people sank yesterday in the eastern Aegean Sea. Greek authorities said at least 12 people drowned, including six children, and 12 others were missing.