World briefs

CHINA Gao Zhisheng, a fiery critic of China’s authoritarian government whose imprisonment and accounts of torture triggered international criticism of Beijing appears set for release today, amid concerns he will continue to be denied freedom outside prison.

BANGLADESH The ferry that capsized in Bangladesh with hundreds of people on board this week had a capacity of only 85 passengers, the country’s shipping minister said yesterday as he announced charges against the vessel’s owner and five of its employees. At least 125 people are presumed dead after the M.V. Pinak went down Monday in strong currents in the Padma River, according to Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan.

MALAYSIA  A Dutch contractor will conduct the underwater search for the Malaysian airliner that crashed off the Australian coast in March.

NORTH KOREA A U.N. diplomat says the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions on North Korea may impose further ones.

VIETNAM North Korea’s foreign minister is holding talks in Vietnam in a visit to a fellow communist country as part of efforts to break the North’s diplomatic isolation.

S KOREA Samsung and Apple Inc. have agreed to end all patent lawsuits between each other outside the U.S. in a step back from three years of legal hostilities between the world’s two largest smartphone makers.

NEPAL yesterday ended its search for bodies buried in a massive landslide over the weekend after recovering few of the 156 victims.  All 156 people on the official list are being declared dead. Only 33 bodies have been recovered.

UKRAINE With Ukrainian troops encircling Donetsk, Western leaders have accused Russia of building up forces along the border in what some fear may preface an intervention. Yesterday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he believed that the “the threat of a direct intervention (by Russia) is definitely greater than it was a few days ago, or two weeks ago.”

BOSNIA Heavy rainfall caused rivers to burst their banks yesterday, killing one person and flooding houses and roads in the same areas of the Balkans that were devastated in May by the worst floods in 120 years.

USA The U.S. trade deficit fell in June to its lowest level since January as imports dropped sharply, led by lower shipments of cellphones, petroleum, and cars.

AFGHANISTAN The Afghan soldier who killed a U.S. two-star general and wounded other top officers hid in a bathroom before his assault and used a NATO assault rifle in his attack, an Afghan military official said yesterday. The investigation into the killing of Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene (pictured), the highest-ranked U.S. officer to be slain in combat since 1970 in the Vietnam War, focused on the Afghan soldier, who went by the single name Rafiqullah, the official said. The shooting wounded about 15 people, including a German general and two Afghan generals.