World briefs

CHINA Beijing authorities say a key measure of air pollutants showed a 19 percent drop in the first three months of the year. The municipal government said yesterday that the density of PM2.5 — harmful particles that are smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter — was 92.7 micrograms per cubic meter for the quarter, an improvement from 114 last year. The World Health Organization safety level is 25 micrograms.

CHINA Search teams have recovered the bodies of 19 Chinese coal miners who died when the shaft where they were working filled with water, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

INDONESIA’s Supreme Court has turned down the final appeals by two death row prisoners who are among 10 drug convicts awaiting execution by firing squad, a court spokesman said yesterday. The appeals for judicial review by Serge Areski Atlaoui of France and Martin Anderson of Ghana were rejected by Indonesia’s highest court in closed-door hearings Tuesday, said Suhadi, the court spokesman and a member of the three-judge panel.

KOREAS South Korea says it is considering supporting a proposed walk across the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas by prominent women including Gloria Steinem in what is planned as a call for the reunification of the two countries.

NORTH KOREA-USA North Korea should learn from the emerging nuclear deal with Iran that Washington is willing to engage its adversaries if it has a “credible” partner to negotiate with, a senior U.S. official says.

JAPAN A court rejected an injunction requested by local residents opposed to resuming operations of two nuclear reactors in southern Japan, giving the go-ahead yesterday for their restart as planned this summer. The Kagoshima District Court decision regarding the Sendai No. 1 and No. 2 reactors was a major relief for the power industry and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-business government.

VATICAN Pope Francis accepts the resignation of a U.S. bishop who pleaded guilty to failing to report a suspected child abuser.

FRANCE An Islamic extremist with an arsenal of loaded guns was only prevented from opening fire on Sunday morning churchgoers because he accidentally shot himself, French officials said. The 24-year-old computer science student, who was also suspected in the death of a young woman whose body was found on Sunday just ahead of his arrest, had been flagged as a risk last year and earlier this year but there was no specific reason to open a judicial investigation, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said yesterday.

YEMENI security officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed seven al-Qaida fighters in the country’s east. They say the militants were travelling in a car in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, where al-Qaida has recently made advances and struck deals with local tribesmen, when the drone hit yesterday.