World Briefs

VIETNAM A court in northern Vietnam has jailed two former police generals for protecting a multimillion-dollar online gambling ring as the Communist government steps up its crackdown on graft. 

INDONESIA About 300 West Papuan demonstrators calling for independence for the restive Indonesian region faced off with counterprotesters in the country’s second-largest city. 

KOREA A North Korean soldier fled across a heavily fortified border to defect to South Korea, the military in Seoul said, just as the rivals began taking steps to reduce military tensions.

INDIA Police say an explosion in a train coach in India’s insurgency-hit northeastern region has left at least four people injured. No one claimed responsibility for the blast. Dozens of rebel groups have been fighting the government and sometimes each other for years in the seven states in northeast India.

SAUDI ARABIA All eyes were on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Group of 20 summit as he made his first major overseas appearance since the killing of a dissident journalist in his country’s consulate in Istanbul.

ISRAEL Police yesterday recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bribery charges related to a corruption case involving Israel’s telecom giant, prompting immediate calls for his resignation.

ROMANIA Despite freezing temperatures, tens of thousands of Romanians turned out to celebrate 100 years since their nation became a modern-day state, with some noting concerns now about the rule of law and the state of democracy in the Balkan nation.

MALTA Eleven migrants rescued by a trawler last week have been handed over to the Maltese coast guard and will soon reach port in Malta, a Spanish aid group said yesterday.

BRAZIL Brazil’s president-elect said Friday that under his government the military will not be in charge of security forces in Rio de Janeiro state. Jair Bolsonaro told reporters he will not extend the military intervention that began in February amid a spike in violence.

MEXICO Leftist politician Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador assumed Mexico’s presidency with a promise — to profoundly transform Latin America’s second-biggest economy and to lead a government free of corruption.

CANADA The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled a Vice Media reporter must give Canada’s national police force material he gathered for stories about an accused terrorist in a case that pitted press freedoms against the investigative powers of police.