World briefs

CHINA  A fire in a karaoke bar in northern China killed 11 people yesterday, local authorities said. The fire happened soon after midnight and a total of 35 people were sent to hospital, the Changyuan county government in Henan province said in an online statement. The county government said the cause of the fire was being investigated.

AUSTRALIA The cab-hailing company Uber promises free rides and refunds for people fleeing central Sydney after coming under criticism for hiking prices during the hostage crisis.

JAPAN’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vows to prevail over resistance to his plans for economic and political change following a weekend election victory that gives him up to four more years in power. More on p12

S KOREAN President Park Geun-hye is facing a political crisis over allegations that a former chief adviser pulled strings behind the scenes on key state affairs and feuded with Park’s younger brother for power.

S KOREA Nut rage imploded the career of a Korean Air Lines executive and embarrassed her family and country. Now South Korean retailers are experiencing the unexpected upside: a boom in sales of macadamias. More on p12

MYANMAR’s army says seven of its troops were killed and 20 wounded when ethnic rebels attacked their outpost in the country’s northeast.

AUSTRALIA An 18-year-old man is killed by a shark while spearfishing on the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern Australian tourist town of Port Douglas.

PHILIPPINE government prosecutors charge a detained U.S. Marine with murder in the killing of a Filipino transgender that reignited an irritant between the military allies over custody of American military personnel suspected of committing crimes.

INDONESIA The death toll from a mudslide that flattened much of a village in central Indonesia rises to 51 before rain forces rescuers to halt their search for dozens of missing people.

BELGIAN police detained three men after reports of a hostage taking in an apartment building in the western city of Ghent yesterday. No one was injured in the incident. Federal police spokeswoman Annemie Serlippens excluded any political or terror motive. “We are sure that it has nothing to do with terrorism,” Serlippens said. “We think it might be drug related.”

SYRIA Jihadi fighters captured a Syrian army base yesterday in the northwestern province of Idlib after two days of intense fighting that killed dozens of gunmen, activists said.