World briefs

CHINA accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting a wave of self-immolations among Tibetans that are widely seen as desperate protests against Chinese rule in the Himalayan region. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has called the deaths sad and ineffective in changing Chinese policy. More on p10

SOUTH KOREA President Park Geun-hye faces allegations that members of her administration received bribes from a businessman found dead in an apparent suicide last week.

GERMANY  A protester interrupted the European Central Bank’s press conference yesterday, screaming “End ECB dictatorship” while she leaped onto the podium and threw confetti at President Mario Draghi.Security guards dragged the woman off the stage in seconds and took Draghi into a side room.

PAKISTAN’s interior minister says security forces have arrested a key suspect in the slaying of a prominent Pakistani politician who was stabbed to death in broad daylight in London in 2010.

JAPAN’s government says the number of scrambles by the country’s warplanes has surged in recent years to levels nearly matching the Cold War era amid growing activity by China and Russia in the region.

USA-JAPAN-KOREA Tensions between American allies Japan and South Korea are a distraction in dealing with common threats like North Korea’s nuclear weapons, a top U.S. diplomat says. More on p13

PHILIPPINES The Philippine military says a Muslim rebel commander whose group has pledged support to the Islamic State group has died following a long ailment and was replaced by a Middle East-trained militant.

ITALY The U.N. refugee agency says the shipwreck in the Mediterranean this week, in which 400 migrants are presumed to have died, is among the deadliest single incidents in the last decade. The tragedy comes amid an unprecedented wave of migration toward Europe from Africa and the Middle East. The Italian Coast Guard said it rescued nearly 10,000 people at sea since Friday, which was an unprecedented rate in such a short period, according to spokesman, Cmdr. Filippo Marini. UNHCR Italy spokeswoman Barbara Molinario says 900 migrants have died or gone missing at sea so far this year.

SOUTH AFRICA More than 2,000 foreigners have sought shelter in refugee camps in the coastal city of Durban after deadly attacks on immigrants, a South African aid group said yesterday. Five people have been killed and 74 people arrested since attacks against immigrants began at the end of March, said police spokesman Col. Jay Naicker in a statement.

INDIA A southern Indian city is shut down by protests after police killed 20 suspected sandalwood smugglers in the forests of Andhra Pradesh state.

GREECE The Standard and Poor’s rating agency downgraded Greece’s credit grade further into junk status, saying the country’s financial commitments would be unsustainable without “deep economic reform or further relief.”