World briefs

HONG KONG The teenage face of Hong Kong’s democracy protests turned himself in Friday but was released by police. Joshua Wong (pictured), 18, and three other members of his Scholarism group were told by police that they were being investigated for taking part in, organizing and inciting an unauthorized assembly. But they were released without charge after refusing to be bound by police bail.

N KOREA-USA U.S. academics and former senior officials meet with North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator in Singapore to get a feel for each other’s positions amid a yearslong standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons buildup.

YEMEN Shiite Houthi rebels abduct the chief of staff to Yemen’s president in the center of the capital, Sanaa, starkly highlighting the unrest plaguing the Arab world’s poorest country. The rebels, who have taken over large swaths of Yemen, claim responsibility for kidnapping Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak.

SYRIA A Russian initiative to host peace talks this month between the Syrian government and its opponents appears to be unraveling as prominent Syrian opposition figures shun the prospective negotiations amid deep distrust of Moscow and concerns the talks hold no chance of success.

AFGHANISTAN Afghan security services arrest five men in connection with the massacre at a Pakistan military school last month that killed 150 people, most of them children. The men, all non-Afghans, helped support the Dec. 16 assault by the Taliban at the Army Public School and College in the city of Peshawar.

INDONESIA High waves and strong currents in the Java Sea again prevented Indonesian navy divers from accessing the fuselage and what is believed to be the cockpit from the AirAsia plane that crashed three weeks ago, officials said. A team of 15 navy divers tried to get to the wreckage to examine it and calculate its weight, but failed to reach it due to the unfavorable conditions, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, director of operations for Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency.

UK Eurostar passenger services have resumed through the Channel Tunnel between England and France after a smoldering load on a truck triggered an alarm that shut down services and caused severe disruption for thousands of passengers.

USA A delegation of congressional Democrats began a three-day visit to Cuba on Saturday to discuss expectations for the normalization of relations between the United States and the island nation.