World Briefs

NORTH KOREA yesterday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea, South Korea and Japan said, continuing a streak of weapons launches that suggests leader Kim Jong Un is trying to strengthen domestic support amid worries about a possible coronavirus outbreak in the country.

THAILAND Officials say a riot has broken out at a prison in the northeastern province of Buriram, and smoke can be seen coming from the facility. Provincial Deputy Governor Pratchaya Ounpetchvarakorn confirmed press reports that there had been gunfire at the prison yesterday but did not elaborate.

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologized to the public yesterday for imposing a three-week national lockdown, calling it harsh but “needed to win” the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

GERMANY In her first address to the nation on the coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel calmly appealed to citizens’ reason and discipline to slow the spread of the virus, acknowledging as a woman who grew up in communist East Germany how difficult it is to give up freedoms, yet as a trained scientist emphasizing that the facts don’t lie.

GERMANY The state finance minister of the Hesse region, which includes Frankfurt, has been found dead. Authorities said he appears to have killed himself and the state’s governor suggested yesterday that he was in despair over the fallout from the coronavirus crisis.

INDONESIA A strong inland and shallow magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit parts of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island late Saturday night, sending people fleeing despite appeals by officials to keep distance to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

RUSSIA’s Rosneft has transferred its assets in Venezuela to a company fully owned by Vladimir Putin’s government, a move apparently intended to shield Russia’s largest oil producer from U.S. sanctions while Moscow continues showing support for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the wake of a U.S. narcotics indictment.

SWEDEN After a long, dark Scandinavian winter, the coronavirus pandemic is not keeping Swedes at home. The streets of Stockholm are quiet but not deserted. People still sit at outdoor cafes in the center of the city. Vendors still sell flowers. Teenagers still chat in groups in parks. Some still greet each other with hugs and handshakes.

US-led coalition in Iraq withdrew yesterday from a military base in the country’s north that nearly launched Washington into an open war with neighboring Iran. The K1 Air Base is the third site coalition forces to have left this month.

US The Rhode Island National Guard started going door to door on Saturday in coastal areas to inform any New Yorkers who may have come to the state that they must self-quarantine for 14 days while Gov. Gina Raimondo expanded the mandatory self-quarantine to anyone visiting the state.

BRAZIL Even as coronavirus cases mount in Latin America’s largest nation, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staked out the most deliberately dismissive position of any major world leader, calling the pandemic a momentary, minor problem and saying strong measures to contain it are unnecessary.