World briefs

US-China President Donald Trump is threatening to use the emergency authority granted by a powerful but obscure federal law to make good on his tweeted “order” to U.S. businesses to cut ties in China amid a spiraling trade war between the two nations.

Taiwan A powerful tropical storm swept across southern Taiwan, triggering landslides and flooding and leaving at least one dead before it hit southern China yesterday morning, officials said.

Bangladesh Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees marked the second anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar into Bangladesh by rallying, crying and praying yesterday as they demanded that Myanmar grant them citizenship and other rights before they agree to return. More on p21

South Korea-Japan Korean armed forces started military training near disputed islands also claimed by Japan yesterday amid increasing tensions between the two nations. Japan swiftly decried the move and called for a halt to the exercises, which it said were taking place in Japanese territory.

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the United Arab Emirates’ highest civilian honor during a visit Saturday to the oil-rich Gulf nation, reinforcing ties between the countries even as he pursues stripping statehood from the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

Israel Two Israeli drones crashed in a Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital overnight without the militants firing on them, a spokesman for the group said yesterday, saying the first fell on the roof of a building housing Hezbollah’s media office while the second landed in a plot behind it.

G-7 The first fissures emerged among G-7 leaders yesterday over how to deal with Iran, as U.S. President Donald Trump denied he had signed on to an agreement on giving France a leading role as a go-between with the world’s major democracies.

Brazil Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops were deploying in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry.

Turkey sees its deal with the U.S. to carve out a narrow security zone in northern Syria as just the beginning, two Turkish officials said, with Ankara determined to purge Kurdish fighters from a much larger section of the border region.

Vatican City Pope Francis said yesterday that the Amazon forest is vital for our Earth and is urging prayers that fires there are quickly controlled.

UK British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval yesterday for his plans to take a tough approach in talks to leave the European Union after a chummy meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France. More on p23