World briefs

CHINA Huawei is paying its employees bonuses totaling more than $285 million as thanks for helping the Chinese tech giant cope with U.S. sanctions that threaten its smartphone and other businesses. Huawei scrambled to remove U.S. components from its products following curbs announced in May on access to American technology after Washington accused the company of being a security risk.

CAMBODIA Exiled Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy said yesterday the European Union’s assessment of whether to suspend trade privileges for his country will add momentum to efforts to restore democracy despite a government crackdown. The EU finalized a preliminary report yesterday that Sam Rainsy said would be the basis for suspending trade privileges for Cambodia.

AUSTRALIA Ferocious wildfires were burning at emergency-level intensity across Australia’s most populous state and into Sydney’s suburbs yesterday as authorities warned most people in their paths that there was no longer time to flee. New South Wales state is under a weeklong state of emergency, a declaration that gives the Rural Fire Service sweeping powers to control resources and direct other government agencies in its efforts to battle fires.

KAZAKHSTAN Ex-president said yesterday he offered to host the leaders of Russia and Ukraine for talks on settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but the Kremlin was noncommittal about such an encounter. The fighting between Russia-backed separatist rebels and Ukrainian troops in Ukraine’s industrial east has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.

AFGHANISTAN President Ashraf Ghani yesterday announced that his government has released three prominent Taliban figures in an effort to get the insurgents to free an American and an Australian professor they abducted in 2016 and have held captive for over three years. At a press event broadcast live on state television, Ghani told the nation the release was a very hard decision he felt he had to make in the interest of the Afghan people.

EU The European Union’s top court ruled yesterday that EU countries must identify products made in Israeli settlements on their labels, in a decision welcomed by rights groups but likely to spark anger in Israel. The European Court of Justice said that “foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin.”

UK Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the British government’s “Cobra” emergency committee after opposition parties accused him of downplaying the severity of flooding in northern England — a key battleground in the election campaign. The prime minister will also seek to capitalize on the Brexit Party’s decision to stand aside in Conservative-held seats.

US Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was admitted to a hospital yesterday [local time] for a surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, caused by bleeding due to his recent falls, his spokeswoman said. Carter has fallen at least three times this year, and the first incident in the spring required hip replacement surgery.