World Briefs

MONEY LAUNDERING As one avenue for money launderers is shut, another one may be opening. In Denmark, home to Danske Bank A/S, the authorities are now taking a closer look at companies that provide payment services.

CHINA President Xi Jinping will visit Italy, France and Monaco from Thursday to March 26. Italy’s coalition government has sent mixed signals over whether it will sign a proposed agreement to join China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure investment drive.

CHINA has arrested nearly 13,000 people it describes as terrorists and has broken up hundreds of “terrorist gangs” in Xinjiang since 2014, the government said in a report yesterday issued to counter criticism of internment camps and other oppressive security in the Islamic region.

NEW ZEALAND Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern promise of tightened gun laws in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings has been widely welcomed by a stunned population.

USA Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke (pictured) raised USD6.1 million online during the first 24 hours after he announced his White House bid, the highest first-day number reported by any candidate, his campaign said. The “record-breaking” fundraising came “without a dime” from political action committees, corporations or special interests.

CRIMEA NATO and the European Union are condemning Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula five years after Moscow declared the region Russian territory. NATO allies said in a statement that “we strongly condemn this act, which we do not and will not recognize.”

FILE – In this May 27, 2007 file photo, Dick Dale, known as “The King of the Surf Guitar,” performs at B.B. King Blues Club in New York. Dale has died at age 81. His former bassist Sam Bolle says Dale passed away Saturday night, March 16, 2019. No other details were available. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

MUSIC Dick Dale (pictured, in 2007), whose pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like “Miserlou” and “Let’s Go Trippin’” earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar, has died at age 81. His former bassist Sam Bolle says Dick Dale passed away Saturday night.