World Briefs

CHINA & JAPAN China and Japan report gloomy industrial data, adding to pressure on leaders of the world’s second- and third-largest economies to launch new stimulus. More on p10

CHINA Sri Lanka said yesterday that President Xi Jinping has proposed three-party talks with India and Sri Lanka to clear any misgivings over its activities in the Indian Ocean region. Cabinet minister Rauff Hakeem, who accompanied President Sirisena on a four-day visit to China, told reporters the Chinese government “was looking forward to developing trilateral talks between Colombo, Delhi and Beijing.”

JAPAN The world’s oldest person, a Japanese woman, died yesterday, weeks after celebrating her 117th birthday. Misao Okawa died of heart failure as relatives and nursing home workers stood by her side. “She went so peacefully, as if she had just fallen asleep,” relatives said.   A 116-year-old American woman, Gertrude Weaver of Arkansas, is now the oldest person in the planet.

US Over three decades ago, a 3-year-old S Korean boy and his sister flew to the US to become the adopted children of American citizens. But they were abandoned, sent into foster care and separated. A family adopted the girl, and got her citizenship. The boy, named Adam Crapser, wasn’t as fortunate.

PACIFIC OCEAN A super typhoon blamed for the deaths of at least four people on islands in the western Pacific Ocean has moved into the open sea and is expected to weaken before reaching the Philippines this weekend.

IRAQ Iraq declared a “magnificent victory” Wednesday over the Islamic State group in Tikrit, a key step in driving the militants out of their biggest strongholds. Iraqi Defense Minister said security forces have “accomplished their mission” in the monthlong offensive to rid Saddam Hussein’s hometown and the broader Salahuddin province of the militant group.

UKRAINE Russia-backed rebel authorities in eastern Ukraine have started paying pensions in Russian rubles. Yekaterina Matyushchenko, the finance minister in the Donetsk region’s separatist government, said that pension payments for March will total 1.9 billion rubles (over USD30 million). She claimed that the money came from taxes paid by local businesses.

NIGERIA Former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday it was time “to heal wounds,” a day after Nigeria’s president conceded defeat in a bitterly fought election. Calling for conciliation across the political divide, Buhari said Nigerians have put a one-party state behind them and embraced democracy. Nigerian civic groups suggest rigging in the election.

PUERTO RICO 32 people were charged with operating illegal gambling machines. The island’s Justice Department said that the charges were filed after a 7-month investigation. Authorities previously confiscated 424 machines and seized nearly USD44,000 in cash. Officials have blamed illegal gambling machines for the closure of six casinos in recent years and causing some $6m in losses.