World briefs

China-US Almost three months after their trade talks broke down in acrimony, Chinese and American negotiators meet again in Shanghai this week amid tempered expectations for breakthroughs in their yearlong trade war.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the indefinite closure of popular lotteries run by the government’s sweepstakes agency due to alleged massive corruption and said even courts couldn’t stop his order. 

Indonesia President Joko Widodo said in an interview that he wants to see the speedy construction of a giant sea wall around Jakarta to prevent the low-lying capital from sinking under the sea, lending renewed backing and a sense of urgency to a slow-moving and politically contested mega project.

India A top commander of a Pakistan-based militant group was killed yesterday during an operation in the southern part of the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, the region’s police chief said.

Afghanistan An official said yesterday that the government would hold its first-ever direct talks with the Taliban within two weeks, but the insurgents quickly denied any such meeting was planned and reiterated their opposition to negotiating with government representatives in their official capacity.

Pakistan Police say they have found the bodies of two transgender women who were tortured and beaten to death.

UK Officials say a British special forces soldier who died fighting the Islamic State group in Syria was killed by friendly fire, rather than in a roadside bomb as previously believed.

Austria Representatives from Europe, China and Russia, which are still committed to the Iran nuclear deal, met yesterday with Iran’s representative in Vienna to discuss how to salvage the unraveling accord.

France President Emmanuel Macron says he will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month, days before hosting a Group of Seven summit with the leaders of rich democracies.

Poland Opposition left-wing parties have staged a rally against violence in the eastern city of Bialystok where a LGBT rights march was attacked last week by far-right groups.

USA A top White House aide defends President Donald Trump’s disparaging tweets about an influential black Democratic congressman and his Baltimore district as a justified response to the lawmaker’s criticism of administration border policies.