World briefs

BELT & ROAD China pledged greater cooperation with American and European companies on Belt and Road ventures, in its latest bid to counter criticism that President Xi Jinping’s initiative is focused on projecting Beijing’s influence at the expense of host countries. 

SOUTH CHINA SEA A U.S. Navy flagship has sailed through the South China Sea to Manila with its commander renewing an American vow to “sail, fly and operate wherever the law allows us to” amid China’s objection to U.S. military presence in the disputed sea. Capt. Eric Anduze, commander of the USS Blue Ridge, told reporters on board that the visit was the latest affirmation of the strong U.S.-Philippine alliance.

PHILIPPINES Everyone on a Taiwanese plane has disembarked safely after one of the plane’s wheels got stuck in the grass off a Philippine runway. All the 122 passengers and an unspecified number of crewmen were safe and the Far Eastern Air Transport plane was towed to the airport terminal in central Kalibo town for inspection.

BRAZIL Classmates, friends and families of the victims of a mass shooting at a school began saying goodbye yesterday, with thousands attending a wake in this devastated Sao Paulo suburb while authorities worked to understand what drove two former students to attack with a gun, crossbows and small axes. 

USA Donald Trump said yesterday that Britain’s debate over leaving the European Union is “tearing the country apart.” Trump said he’s “surprised at how badly” the negotiations have been handled. Trump, who sees himself as a master deal-maker, said he gave advice to Theresa May but that she didn’t listen to him.

NEW YORK The reputed boss of Gambino’s crime family Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali was gunned down outside his home, dying a virtual unknown compared with his swaggering 1980s-era predecessor John Gotti. Cali, 53, was found with multiple gunshot wounds at his red-brick colonial-style house on Staten Island and was pronounced dead at a hospital.