World briefs

CHINA is defending its often-criticized rule in Tibet 60 years after the Dalai Lama fled into exile amid an abortive uprising against Chinese control, saying those who question its policies are merely showing their anti-Chinese bias.

MALAYSIA Six Egyptians and a Tunisian man believed to be linked to an African-based terror group have been detained and deported. One of the Egyptians and the Tunisian national are suspected members of Ansar Al-Sharia Al-Tunisia, which is based in North Africa and listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations.

NORTH KOREA Millions of voters, including leader Kim Jong Un, went to the polls to endorse a new lineup of roughly 700 members for the next session of the national legislature. 

KAZAKHSTAN Serikzhan Bilash, a prominent activist campaigning for the release of ethnic Kazakhs, (pictured) was caught in a sweeping crackdown on Muslims in China has been arrested in the Kazakh city of Almaty, his wife and a lawyer said yesterday. Leila Adilzhan said head of the advocacy group Atajurt, called her yesterday morning from a policeman’s phone saying he had been arrested and had been taken to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

JAPAN A 116-year-old Japanese woman who loves playing the board game Othello was honored this weekend as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness World Records. The global authority on records officially recognized Kane Tanaka (pictured) in a ceremony at the nursing home where she lives in Fukuoka. Her family and the mayor were present to celebrate.

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says he is looking for ways to help the children of British citizens who joined the Islamic State group in Syria. He spoke after the newborn son of 19-year-old Shamima Begum (pictured), who at age 15 ran away with two friends to join IS, died Friday in a refugee camp.

UNITED NATIONS The head of the U.N. women’s agency, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (third from right), is calling for the revolution in technology to be used to benefit the world’s poor, and especially women, who will not achieve gender equality without “the giant leap that 21st century innovations can bring.”

IRAN’s president is making his first official visit to Iraq this week as he faces mounting pressure from hard-liners at home in the wake of the Trump administration’s unraveling of the nuclear deal. Hassan Rouhani’s trip — billed as “historic and noble” by his foreign minister — is meant to solidify ties between Shiite power Iran and Iraq’s Shiite led-government, a strong Tehran ally.