World Briefs

EU The European Union commissioner for crisis management says the new virus that emerged in China creates a “worrisome” situation that will be discussed during a special meeting of health ministers from the 27-member bloc. The meeting of health ministers will take place Thursday and will help coordinate the actions of member states.

PHILIPPINES The government’s chief lawyer asked the Supreme Court to shut down ABS-CBN, the country’s largest TV network, by revoking its operating franchises because of alleged constitutional violations, in a move critics called an attempt to muzzle the media. Duterte has repeatedly criticized the network, along with at least two other news agencies, for making critical reports about him.

THAILAND Authorities began releasing bodies to relatives yesterday after security forces cornered and killed a soldier who carried out the country’s worst mass shooting in an hourslong siege at a shopping mall. The soldier killed 29 people starting with his commanding officer in a stunning tragedy that began Saturday and ended Sunday morning when security forces shot dead the heavily armed attacker.
Thailand Two Russian children died in a collision of two speedboats off a Thai resort island yesterday. The victims were a 12-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl. Twenty other passengers from the boats that collided off Phuket were brought to hospitals to check their condition.

INDONESIA A search plane spotted the wreckage of an Indonesian military helicopter that went missing with 12 people nearly eight months ago in the country’s troubled easternmost province of Papua, military officials said yesterday. The Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter lost contact five minutes after taking off from Oksibil.

SOUTH KOREA The highest-level North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea will join its main opposition party and run in April parliamentary elections. Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London (pictured), came to South Korea in 2016 with his family. He since has been highly critical of North Korea’s authoritarian government.

GERMANY Chancellor Angela Merkel’s heir apparent unexpectedly threw in the towel. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (pictured) told leading members of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) that she won’t be seeking the chancellorship in next year’s general election, upending Merkel’s plans to hand her the reins after more than 15 years in power.

IRELAND’s political parties were scrambling to adjust to a new reality yesterday after an earth-shaking election that saw the left-wing nationalist party Sinn Fein win the biggest share of votes. Sinn Fein, the party historically linked to the IRA, received 24.5% of the first-preference votes in Saturday’s election.