World briefs

TAIWANESE President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday that he is stepping down as chairman of the ruling Nationalist Party following stinging defeats in local elections over the weekend that cast a shadow over his pro-China policies. More on p11

SOUTH KOREAN officials express fear of a huge death toll after rescuers failed to find any of the more than 50 fishermen missing after their ship sank amid high waves in the freezing waters of the western Bering Sea on Monday. More on p13

SOUTH KOREA does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but the hot deals at the U.S. retailers during the shopping season are changing habits of South Koreans who are fed up with marked-up prices of imported goods at local retailers. The growing trend known as “jikgoo” in local lingo, meaning a direct purchase, has forced South Korean retailers to cut prices during the weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday to get those shoppers back. More on p12

VIETNAMESE police have detained a blogger for posting comments critical of the communist government in the latest crackdown on dissent. Hong Le Tho, 65, was taken into police custody in southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its web site. The statement says his house was searched.

INDONESIA A Canadian teacher and an Indonesia teaching assistant have gone on trial accused of sexually abusing a kindergartner on the campus of a prestigious international school.

USA President Barack Obama asks federal agencies for concrete recommendations to ensure the U.S. isn’t building a “militarized culture” within police departments, as he promotes the use of body cameras by police in the wake of the shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri.

PERU With 2014 on track to become the warmest year on record and time running short, more than 190 nations began talks on a new worldwide deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions and keep global warming from causing irreversible damage. New targets for fossil fuel use were announced ahead of the climate conference by the U.S., the European Union and China, the first Asian nation to make such a pledge.

CUBA About 40 French tourists were wounded in a bus accident in Varadero region in Cuba, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said yesterday. In a statement, Valls added several serious injuries were reported after a bus carrying a group of retired French visitors collided with a truck. A crisis center at the Foreign Affairs Ministry was set to follow their situation and facilitate their return to home, according to the statement.

IRAQ has reached a deal with the Kurdish government to exchange oil from the autonomous northern region for a nearly 20 percent share of the national budget, resolving a months-long impasse that had undermined national unity in the face of the Islamic State group’s onslaught.

UKRAINIAN government troops and Russian-backed separatist forces in the Luhansk region have agreed on a new cease-fire, international monitors said. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that under the agreement, hostilities are to cease Friday along the line of contact between the warring sides.

PORTUGAL’s national airline is enduring its fifth walkout this year, with a 24-hour strike by cabin crew grounding around 200 flights. The Civil Aviation Cabin Crew Union announced yesterday’s strike in October, allowing TAP Air Portugal to move thousands of passengers onto flights with other airlines or switch their day of travel. The flag carrier says it has lost millions of euros due to stoppages this year by pilots, cabin crew and airport service staff.