World briefs

Hong Kong police have arrested eight people for posting personal data about police officers on the internet as massive protests against the government and police were held in recent weeks.

Extradition bill A pro-democracy lawmaker who tried to stop Hong Kong protesters from breaking into the legislature this week says China will likely use the vandalizing of the building as a reason to step up pressure on the Chinese territory.

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday that Japan cannot give South Korean exports preferential treatment because the country is not abiding by an agreement regarding wartime issues that Japan insists have been resolved.

India Rahul Gandhi has resigned as president of India’s opposition Congress party to take responsibility for its crushing defeat in recent elections. Gandhi announced his resignation on Twitter yesterday saying he was stepping down because accountability is “critical for the future growth of our party.”

Mount Everest Seven bodies believed to be from a missing team of international climbers were evacuated in helicopters from a notoriously dangerous Himalayan mountain in northern India yesterday, officials said.

Libya An airstrike hit a detention center for migrants near the Libyan capital early yesterday, killing at least 44 people and wounding more than 130, the U.N. mission to the war-torn country said. 

Iran’s president warned European partners in its faltering nuclear deal yesterday that Tehran will increase its enrichment of uranium to “any amount that we want” beginning on Sunday, putting pressure on them to offer a way around intense U.S. sanctions targeting the country.

Pakistan police say an overloaded passenger boat has capsized in the Indus River, killing at least eight people and leaving several others missing.

USA Decorated Navy SEAL Chief Edward Gallagher, who was acquitted of murder in the killing of a wounded Islamic State captive in Iraq thanked Fox News, President Trump and two congressmen for their support during his trial.

EU  Italian socialist David-Maria Sassoli was elected yesterday to head the European parliament, completing the bloc’s drawn-out and at times acrimonious appointment process for its top jobs. 

UK Britain’s economy showed alarming signs of a sharp slowdown, possibly even into recession, as uncertainty over Brexit combines with a less benign global backdrop, according to a closely watched survey of business activity in the U.K. released yesterday.