World Briefs

INDONESIA Rebels in Indonesia’s Papua province demanded that the government hold negotiations on their territory’s self-determination and warned of more attacks following a raid on a construction site that left at least 16 dead.

KOREA South Korean prosecutors said yesterday that they have charged four people with illegally importing North Korean coal via Russia in violation of U.N. sanctions.

NEW ZEALAND’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made an emotional apology yesterday to the family of a 22-year-old British tourist who police say was murdered. 

PAKISTAN Police say an overnight blast targeting a religious gathering of an ethnic party has wounded six people in the southern port city of Karachi.

INDIA Thousands of people in Indian-controlled Kashmir joined a funeral procession yesterday for two teenage rebels who were killed over the weekend in a long gunbattle with Indian troops in the disputed region. 

IRAN President Hassan Rouhani warned Western countries that they will face a massive influx of drugs if Iran becomes weakened by U.S. sanctions.

ARMENIA Allies of Armenia’s new leader have won an overwhelming majority of seats in the country’s early parliamentary election, according to preliminary results released yesterday.

ISRAEL’s prime minister yesterday announced that Oman will open its airspace to Israel’s national airline. The move marks another sign of warming ties with Gulf Arab states, as Israel’s behind-the-scenes dealings with its former foes become more public.

GERMANY Train workers have gone on strike, leading to cancellations in the country’s long-distance and commuter rail system and making tens of thousands of employees and school children late.

PERU Voters agreed to take on corruption yesterday, according to exit polls, as the South American nation struggles to end a scourge that has landed lawmakers, judges and even former presidents behind bars.

BRAZIL Ten women in Brazil have accused a self-styled spiritual healer of sexually abusing them at a clinic in the central-western state of Goias.