World briefs

China At least 201 people have been killed and 63 are missing following flooding across China in July and August, according to government rescue services. The most recent deaths came in mountainous Sichuan province, where eight were killed and 23 missing. Earlier in August, 39 were killed and nine left missing by Typhoon Lekima.

China From Thailand to Kenya, trains run on tracks from steel mills in China’s northeast, a rust-belt region that is trying to capitalize on a multibillion-dollar national initiative to build ports, railways and other projects abroad.

China The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea met in Beijing yesterday as they seek to encourage progress on North Korean denuclearization at a time of tense relations between Tokyo and Seoul over trade. 

Indonesia has deployed more than 1,000 security personnel to the restive province of West Papua amid spreading protests and violence, police said yesterday. Protests sparked by accusations that security forces had arrested and insulted Papuan students in East Java’s Surabaya city turned on Monday.

Australia A Melbourne appeals court yesterday upheld convictions against Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of sexually abusing children, in a decision cheered by scores of abuse survivors and victims’ advocates demonstrating outside the court. 

Australia has joined Britain and Bahrain in signing onto a U.S.-led maritime security mission to protect international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran. Australia will contribute troops, a surveillance plane and a Navy frigate to protect the shipping lanes from Iran, Scott Morrison said.

US-Venezuela President Donald Trump said his government is talking to “various representatives” of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who also confirmed that “secret” discussions had been taking place. Maduro said after that talks had long been underway between high officials of both countries.

US Four college students were wounded when a gunman opened fire into a crowd of 200 people outside a library near Clark Atlanta University and then escaped in the chaos, authorities said. All four injured women were in stable condition after the gunfire, which happened shortly after 10:30 p.m Tuesday (yesterday, Macau time).

Afghanistan The death toll in a suicide bombing at a Kabul wedding claimed by the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan has risen to 80, an official said Wednesday, as a U.S. envoy was set to resume talks with the Taliban on ending America›s longest war. The initial toll in Saturday’s blast was 63.