World briefs

SINGAPORE’s government says Lee Kuan Yew (pictured), the city-state’s founding father, remains on life support in intensive care being treated for severe pneumonia. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office says the 91-year-old is sedated and on mechanical ventilation. It said yesterday his doctors have restarted him on antibiotics, and are continuing to monitor him closely.

CHINA imposed a one-year ban on ivory imports that took immediate effect yesterday amid criticism that its citizens’ huge appetite for ivory has fueled poaching that threatens the existence of African elephants.

AFGHANISTAN A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives targeted a Turkish Embassy vehicle in the Afghan capital during yesterday morning’s rush hour, killing one Turkish soldier and wounding another.

AFGHANISTAN A senior Afghan military officer says the death toll from an avalanche caused by heavy winter snows in a mountainous valley northeast of the capital Kabul has risen to 162.

AUSTRALIA Two men from Malaysia and Hong Kong have been charged with smuggling more than 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth 65 million Australian dollars (USD50 million) into Sydney in a shipping container from China, authorities said yesterday.

UKRAINE International monitors overseeing a cease-fire in Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatists say that both sides are delaying progress in the planned withdrawal of heavy weaponry. However, Ukraine’s military said yesterday it has noted a substantial reduction of unrest in the east and that its positions had not been shelled once over the previous night.

RUSSIA A spokesman for the Russian gas giant Gazprom says the company could cut off supplies to neighboring Ukraine by the end of the week, barring further payments.

ISRAEL’s opposition leader says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should cancel his upcoming speech to the U.S. Congress, saying he will cause “strategic damage” to ties with Washington.

ARGENTINA’s Congress has approved a law overhauling an intelligence agency under fire from the president as well as the opposition. The measure approved early yesterday comes after President Cristina Fernandez said the agency was out of control and suggested a top spy could have been involved in the death of a special prosecutor.