World Briefs

CHINA The government has banned flying kites, drones and captive pigeons over central Beijing for more than two weeks as it prepares for a military parade and other celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule on Oct. 1.

TAIWAN has signaled to U.S. officials that it will move swiftly to complete the purchase of 66 new F-16 fighters once congressional foreign relations committees complete their review this month, according to a State Department official.

PHILIPPINES Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez wants the main tax agency to shut down and file cases against online gaming operators that haven’t paid their dues. He issued the order after finding out that the Bureau of Internal Revenue hasn’t substantially collected USD420 million in income taxes that should have been withheld by online gaming operators.

THAILAND Catholics are celebrating the official announcement of the first papal visit in 35 years, but one 77-year-old nun in a far-flung corner of the country has a connection that makes the occasion particularly special.

AFGHANISTAN officials say around 100,000 members of the country’s security forces are ready for polling day. The presidential election is scheduled for Sept 28.

INDIA A sightseeing boat capsized on a swollen river in southern India yesterday, killing 12 people and leaving 35 others missing, an official said.

ISRAEL A visibly frantic Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the fight of his political life as the country heads to national elections for the second time this year.

IRAN denied yesterday it was involved in Yemen rebel drone attacks the previous day that hit the world’s biggest oil processing facility and an oil field in Saudi Arabia, just hours after America’s top diplomat alleged that Tehran was behind the “unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.”

BAHAMAS Tropical Storm Humberto moved away from the Bahamas on Saturday after dumping rain on parts of the archipelago’s northwest region that were already hammered by Hurricane Dorian two weeks ago.

TUNISIA Residents are casting ballots in their North African country’s second democratic presidential election, choosing among 26 candidates for a leader who can safeguard its young democracy and tackle its unemployment, corruption and economic despair.

FRANCE The warehouse that French President Emmanuel Macron visited was hundreds of miles and a world away from the prestige of the G-7 summit he hosted a few weeks earlier.

UK The British prime minister who called the 2016 Brexit referendum and then saw the public vote to leave the European Union, creating the nation’s prolonged political crisis, says he is sorry for the divisions it has caused.