World Briefs

PHILIPPINES Soldiers clashed with Abu Sayyaf gunmen in fierce jungle fighting that left five soldiers and three militants dead, as the military pushed forward with a fresh offensive following a deadly church bombing.

AUSTRALIA A man who falsely claimed to have a bomb and menaced a woman with a knife forced the evacuation of Brisbane International Airport for more than two hours in an emergency that police described yesterday as elaborate and terrifying. More on p13

INDIA’s prime minster paid a daylong visit to disputed Kashmir yesterday to review development work as separatists fighting Indian rule called for a shutdown in the Himalayan region.

LEBANON’s new Cabinet held its first meeting and the country’s leaders vowed to deal swiftly with the political and economic challenges the country faces, while playing down the militant Hezbollah group’s takeover of the health ministry.

UKRAINE The newly elected head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church has officially assumed office in the capital of Kiev, a month after the church severed its centuries-long ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

GREECE Four migrants, including three girls, are missing after an inflatable boat they used to cross a river from Turkey into Greece was punctured by a tree branch.

ALBANIA Police have cracked down a suspected visa ring issuing fake documents to help people illegally go to Western European countries, Britain, the United States and Canada.

FRANCE’s yellow vest protesters were back on the streets this weekend to keep up the pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron’s government and to decry the number of people being injured by police during the anti-government demonstrations.

IVORY COAST’s ex-president and a former youth minister were released from International Criminal Court custody, more than two weeks after they were acquitted of involvement in deadly violence that erupted after their country’s 2010 election.

US Newly unsealed documents about notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman contain claims by witnesses that he had sex with minors he called “vitamins,” a disturbing allegation coming just as a jury is about to start deliberating in his U.S. drug-trafficking case.

VENEZUELA’s opposition leader called on more members of the military to abandon the country’s socialist government following the defection of a high-ranking general, while President Nicolas Maduro proposed holding early National Assembly elections that could potentially oust his challenger.