World Briefs

CHINA The government has released and deported a Swedish man it accused of training and funding unlicensed lawyers in the country, after he made an extraordinary confession broadcast on state television.

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief easily won a seat on a key committee yesterday, the first step toward retaining his position as head of the collective leadership of the country. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong secured more than 80 percent of the vote.

MALAYSIA The attorney general says nearly USD700 million channeled into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s private accounts was a personal donation from Saudi Arabia’s royal family, and cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing. The announcement capped months of uncertainty for Najib, who has been fighting intense pressure to resign over the financial scandal in his biggest political crisis since he took power in 2009.

MALAYSIA Malaysian police say 13 bodies, believed to be Indonesian illegal immigrants, were found washed ashore after their boat capsized in bad sea conditions.

USA-CAMBODIA US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomes Cambodia’s booming economic growth but also expresses concerns about the Southeast Asian nation’s human rights record. Kerry met top Cambodian officials, and discussed the possibility of a U.S.-Cambodia trade and investment treaty.

SOUTH KOREA’s economic growth slowed in the final quarter of 2015 as a drop in construction investment outweighed an improvement in consumer spending, the country’s central bank says. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Co. reports its lowest annual profit in five years after a failure to fully anticipate strong demand for sports utility vehicles in China led to a sales drop in the world’s largest auto market.

NORTH KOREA UNICEF is seeking USD18 million in relief funds for tens of thousands of children in North Korea it believes have been hit by the impact of a drought last year that heightened malnutrition and diarrhea caused by a lack of access to clean water.

AFGHANISTAN A policeman turned his weapon on fellow officers as they were sleeping in their quarters near a checkpoint in the country’s south, killing 10, a provincial spokesman says. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the killings.

GREECE State hospital workers scuffled with police outside the finance ministry yesterday, as protests,  and strikes across Greece escalated against sweeping pension reforms proposed by the government. PM Alexis Tsipras’ year-old left-wing govt is facing fierce opposition to the reforms being demanded by bailout lenders that could see millions of workers pay higher income contributions.

ROMANIA’s prime minister offered Moldova a loan of 60 million euros (USD65 million) on yesterday to prevent economic collapse in the impoverished ex-Soviet republic — if certain conditions are met. To get the money, PM Dacian Ciolos said Moldova will have to reform its justice system, fight corruption.