World briefs

CHINA Thirty-two officials in far-western China have been punished over alleged bribe-taking, nepotism or other wrongdoing in the choosing of people for over-subscribed Muslim pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca, a Communist Party commission and a state newspaper say.

PAKISTANI lawmakers are protesting the publication of images of Islam’s prophet in the satirical French magazine attacked by extremists last week. State-run TV reported that the lawmakers unanimously approved a resolution condemning the publication of the images. It did not say how many legislators were on hand for the vote.

INDONESIAN navy divers try to find bodies believed to be trapped inside a large chunk of the AirAsia jet’s fuselage.

INDIA An Indian novelist goes into hiding and says he has quit writing after his latest book about a woman’s efforts to get pregnant with a stranger sparked virulent protests by right-wing Hindu and caste groups.

JAPAN If you are troubled, lost in life or just feel like discussing cats and Japanese baseball, visit “Mr. Murakami’s Place” online. Author Haruki Murakami (pictured), notoriously publicity-shy, is taking questions and responding for the next two weeks via website.

SRI LANKA’s new president replaces an ex-military official with a civilian governor in the Tamil-controlled north in a sign of improving ties with the ethnic minority following the end of the civil war.

THAILAND Human rights groups and labor organizations across Asia urge Thailand’s military government to scrap a proposal to send prisoners onto Thai fishing boats to fill labor shortages.

FRANCE President Francois Hollande says France’s millions of Muslims should be protected and respected and in turn they should also respect the nation’s strict secular policies. Hollande spoke yesterday after three radical Muslim gunmen killed 17 people last week in France’s worst attacks in decades. Two of the attackers claimed allegiances to al-Qaida in Yemen and another to the Islamic State group.

USA-CUBA The Obama administration is putting a large dent in the U.S. embargo against Cuba as of today, significantly loosening restrictions on American trade and investment. The new rules also open up the communist island to greater American travel and allow U.S. citizens to start bringing home small amounts of Cuban cigars after more than a half-century ban.

SWITZERLAND‘s central bank has scrapped a policy that limited how much the euro could fall against the Swiss franc, an unexpected decision that sent the euro plummeting a stunning 30 percent against the Swiss currency before it recovered somewhat.