World Briefs

SOUTH KOREA  The Health Ministry declared yesterday a formal end to an outbreak of the MERS virus that killed 38 people and sickened dozens of others since May. The announcement by South Korea’s Health Ministry came a month after the last infected patient in the country died. Since the outbreak started in May, 186 people in South Korea were infected. More than 16,000 people were isolated at hospitals or homes as authorities struggled to stop the disease’s spread.

MALAYSIA Rayani Air took to the skies over the weekend with a clear bailiwick. It is the country’s first Islamic airline, offering flights that adhere to Islamic rules, including prayers, no serving of alcohol or meals with pork, and a strict dress code for Muslim female flight attendants.

RUSSIA-INDIA Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to Moscow for a summit with President Vladimir Putin that is expected to focus on defense, nuclear and space cooperation. Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar says an array of agreements are being prepared for signature, but did not give details. Modi is to arrive today and have a private dinner hosted by Putin in the evening. Russia and India have shared close ties since the Cold War.

AFGHANISTAN  Acting defense minister says reinforcements have been rushed to a besieged southern district threatened for days with takeover by Taliban fighters. Masoom Stanekzai said yesterday fighting in the Sangin district of Helmand is continuing as army and police arrive to help security forces who have been pinned down for days.
USA A key defendant in an organized crime case in San Francisco’s Chinatown testified this week that the undercover agent leading the probe tried to drag him into conversations and force money on him. Under cross-examination by prosecutors at his trial on murder and racketeering charges, Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow said the agent gave him money because the agent was looking out for him, not in exchange for any criminal activity. Chow received USD60,000 from the agent over three years.

SPACE SPACEX sent a Falcon rocket soaring toward orbit with 11 small satellites, its first mission since an accident last summer. Then in an even more astounding feat, it landed the 15-story leftover booster back on Earth safely. It was the first time an unmanned rocket returned to land vertically at Cape Canaveral and represented a tremendous success for SpaceX and a great step to the space odyssey. Billionaire Elon Musk is striving for reusability to drive launch costs down and open up space to more people. “Welcome back, baby!” Musk tweeted after touchdown.

USA Nicolas Cage has agreed to give back a national treasure from Mongolia. A publicist for the star of the “National Treasure” adventure films confirmed that Cage was the unwitting buyer of a dinosaur skull that federal prosecutors in New York say was stolen. Prosecutors announced last week that they were seeking court approval to take custody of the 32-inch fossil so it could be returned to the Asian nation, but they did not name the buyer.