World Briefs

SOUTH CHINA SEA Two U.S. warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait over the weekend, Taiwan’s defense ministry said yesterday, in a move that Beijing said threatened to hinder U.S.-China relations. The ministry said the ships made the passage, sailing from south to north through the waterway that divides the self-governing island from mainland China.

JAPAN’s 85-year-old Emperor Akihito ends his three-decade reign today when he abdicates to his son Crown Prince Naruhito (left). He’ll be the first emperor to abdicate in 200 years. The imperial family is relatively small and will shrink further in the coming years. Only one of Emperor Akihito’s four grandchildren is a male who can ascend to the throne.

INDONESIA’s decades-long discussion about building a new capital has inched forward after President Joko Widodo yesterday approved a long-term plan for the government to abandon overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta. 

PHILIPPINES A fire raged through the top floors of a 21-story residential building in Manila yesterday in the middle of a scorching summer, killing an elderly woman and injuring five other people, officials said. More than 100 firetrucks battled the blaze at the Pacific Coast Plaza condominium in Paranaque city, where one lane of a coastal road along Manila Bay was closed due to falling debris. An elderly woman was found dead in the upper floors and five other people were injured.

SRI LANKA The Catholic Church urged the government to crack down on Islamic extremists with more vigor “as if on war footing” in the aftermath of the Easter bombings. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, said the church may not be able to stop people from taking the law into their own hands unless the government conducts a more thorough investigation. 

SPAIN’s political future is no clearer after a third election since 2015, with experts saying that it won’t be anytime soon before the muddle is resolved. The incumbent prime minister, Pedro Sánchez (pictured), celebrated after his Socialist party won the most votes in Sunday’s ballot.