TIBET-NEPAL All mountaineering on the Chinese side of Mount Everest was cancelled after Saturday’s earthquake. China’s official Xinhua News Agency says more than 400 climbers from 20-plus countries were on the northern side of the world’s highest mountain and were reported safe after they descended to lower elevations. Xinhua quoted an official with the Tibetan bureau of sports as saying that an avalanche at 7,000 meters and the possibility of further aftershocks was considered to have made climbing too dangerous. There was no word on when the ban would be lifted.
SOUTH KOREA’s president has accepted the resignation of her prime minister because of a bribery scandal. Prime Minster Lee Wan Koo (pictured) offered to quit last week, two months after taking the country’s No. 2 post. He was at the heart of a corruption scandal involving a dead businessman and other high-profile figures.
INDONESIA Australia wants corruption allegations against Indonesian judges investigated before their death sentences against two Australian drug traffickers are carried out, the foreign minister said yesterday.
JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the U.S. on Sunday for a weeklong visit to showcase the success of the alliance built from Tokyo’s defeat in World War II, while promoting a political agenda based on still stronger military and economic ties.
THAILAND seized 3 tons of ivory hidden in tea leaf sacks from Kenya in the second-biggest bust in the country’s history, one week after the biggest seizure.
SRI LANKA’s Parliament debates constitutional amendments to clip the extensive powers given to the country’s president, a promise President Maithripala Sirisena made in the run up to his January election win.
KAZAKHSTAN Preliminary results of weekend nationwide polls in Kazakhstan show the long-ruling president confirming his incumbency with 97.7 percent of the vote amid a record turnout, election officials said yesterday.
CHILE Soldiers are sent to clear ash from towns and roads near Chile’s Calbuco volcano, which is quieter but continued to release columns of ash days after emitting twin spectacular eruptions.
BURUNDI Streets protests hit Burundi yesterday as anger swelled over the ruling party’s decision to nominate President Pierre Nkurunziza for a third term, which many say is unconstitutional.
SUDAN’s Election Commission says President Omar al-Bashir has won re-election with 94 percent of the vote, extending his 25-year rule despite war crimes charges and multiple insurgencies.
USA The acting chief executive of the Clinton Foundation is acknowledging the global philanthropy made mistakes in how it disclosed its donors amid growing scrutiny as Hillary Rodham Clinton opens her presidential campaign as the presume Democratic frontrunner.
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