World Briefs

CHINA demanded that a major Danish newspaper, which angered Muslims worldwide by publishing drawings of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006, apologizes for a cartoon on the new virus outbreak in China. Jyllands-Posten’s chief editor, Jacob Nybroe, said the cartoon, which shows the Chinese flag with what resembles viruses instead of the normal stars, was not intended “to mock or ridicule China.”

AUSTRALIA A wildfire sparked by a military helicopter helping firefighting efforts was blazing out of control and threatening homes on the outskirts of Australia’s capital yesterday as fire danger escalated across the country’s southeast. The fire had spread over 8,000 hectares since it was started by a transport helicopter landing light that ignited grass in a national park south of Canberra on Monday afternoon.

PAKISTAN A massive explosion and fire triggered by a gas cylinder explosion engulfed a small perfume factory in eastern Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 11 people, rescuer workers and police said. Two people were also injured in the blast, which caused the roof of the factory to collapse in flames.

ISRAEL Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s withdrawn his bid to win immunity from prosecution on corruption charges, saving himself the embarrassment of a possible rejection by parliament as he tries to focus attention on an emerging U.S. peace plan for the Middle East expected to deliver Israel major triumphs.

UK Britain has decided to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to supply new high-speed network equipment, dealing a setback to the U.S. government and its global campaign to press allies into banning the company. The government’s decision yesterday is the first by a major U.S. ally on the issue, which has seen intense lobbying from the Trump administration and China as the two vie for technological dominance.

FRANCE Airbus said yesterday it has reached potential settlement deals with authorities in the U.S., Britain and France investigating alleged fraud and bribery. If the plea deals are approved by courts in all three countries, that would end four years of investigations that have damaged the European plane maker’s reputation and bottom line.

US President Donald Trump’s legal team is raising a broad-based attack on the impeachment case against him even as it mostly brushes past allegations in a new book that could undercut a key defense argument at his Senate trial. Former national security adviser John Bolton writes in a manuscript that Trump wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it committed to helping with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion matters because Trump and his lawyers have repeatedly insisted that he never tied the suspension of security aid to political investigations.

US Google’s efforts to allow rival search apps a foothold on its Android phones may fail to steer users to alternatives, warned U.S. upstart DuckDuckGo, the only competitor to win the right to appear as another search option on new handsets across Europe. Google has to prompt users to pick alternative search and web browser apps under the terms of a 2018 European Union antitrust ruling that found the company unfairly ties moneymaking services to the Android software it gives away.