World briefs

CHINA Shanghai police detain nine terror suspects from an ethnic minority in western China plus 10 Turkish people accused of helping them in an attempt to illegally travel abroad, including to Syria, a state newspaper says. More on p11

N KOREA-USA North Korea says that “many things will be possible this year on the Korean peninsula” if the United States agrees to suspend its annual military exercises with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang’s suspension of nuclear tests. North Korea’s new deputy U.N. ambassador, An Myong Hun, refused to give details during a news conference but said the suspensions would open “genuine dialogue” between the two Koreas and remove the risk of war.

CAMBODIA Hun Sen (pictured), Cambodia’s tough and wily prime minister, marked 30 years in power, one of only a handful of political strongmen worldwide who have managed to cling to their posts for three decades.

JAPAN’s Cabinet approves the country’s largest ever defense budget, including plans to buy surveillance aircraft, drones and F-35 fighter jets to help counter China’s rising assertiveness in the region. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet endorsed a nearly 5 trillion yen (USD42 billion) defense budget for the year beginning in April as part of a record 96.3 trillion yen ($814 billion) total budget. More on p12

S KOREAN officials arrest a leftist activist for allegedly praising archrival North Korea, just days after an American was deported on similar charges and adding to criticism that the government seeks to limit free speech and suppress dissidents. The Seoul prosecutors’ office arrested Hwang Sun (pictured) soon after the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant, according to court spokesman Kim Dae-hyun.

INDIA Authorities in an Indian state suspend 23 officials in a crackdown on illegal liquor sales, as the death toll among villagers who drank from a bad batch of cheap alcohol climbed to 38.

INDIA’s top court grants an Italian marine’s request for extended medical leave abroad, before he and a fellow marine face expected charges over the 2012 shooting of two Indian fishermen. The case has caused a diplomatic uproar between India and Italy because the two marines have been held in India for almost three years without formal charges.

INDONESIA An American couple go on trial in Indonesia on charges of murdering the woman’s mother last year on the resort island of Bali. The badly beaten body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi outside an upscale hotel.

UKRAINE An attack on a passenger bus in eastern Ukraine has killed 11 people, likely dealing the final blow to hopes that a short-lived and shaky cease-fire could take hold.

USA Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says President Barack Obama is working on sending Congress a new authorization for the use of military force against the Islamic State group.