World Briefs

ECONOMY  Europe’s sclerotic growth and political dysfunction inspire frequent comparisons with Japan’s lost decade from the mid-1990s. We’re not there yet.

CHINA Officials at the Sanya Championship said that 28-year-old Malaysian golfer Arie Irawan (pictured) died in his hotel room from “apparent natural causes,” and the PGA Tour Series-China canceled the final round of the tournament. Irawan missed the 36-hole cut Friday. The official coroner’s report had not been completed.

INDONESIAN presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto called for change in a rally yesterday, talking down the government’s economic performance as competition heats up ahead of an election next week. Indonesia goes to the polls on April 17.

INDIA In the city Hindus consider the center of the world, Varanasi, PM Modi has commissioned a grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges River with the centuries-old Vishwanath temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of destruction. It’s a project dripping with equal parts symbolism and political calculation.

TURKEY’s ruling party says it will appeal to the country’s top election authority, demanding a full recount of votes cast in Istanbul in the March 31 mayoral election. Ali Ihsan Yavuz, deputy chairman of the ruling AKP party, spoke yesterday as a recount of votes was continuing in several Istanbul districts.

US Declaring “our country is full,” President Trump insisted the U.S. immigration system was overburdened and illegal crossings must be stopped as he inspected a refurbished section of fencing at the Mexican border. Trump is making a renewed push for border security as a central campaign issue for his 2020 re-election

CUBA More than 400 animal-lovers, many accompanied by their dogs, peacefully marched a mile through Havana yesterday, waving placards calling for an end to animal cruelty in Cuba. Short, seemingly simple, the march wrote a small but significant line in the history of modern Cuba.

BREXIT Cross-party talks to jumpstart plans for Brexit are expected to resume before the U.K.’s Friday deadline for leaving the European Union, and the opposition Labour Party is hopeful the country’s political impasse can be resolved, a party negotiator said yesterday.