World briefs

S KOREA  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accuses North Korea of a litany of crimes and atrocities while reassuring South Korea of America’s “ironclad” security commitments.

AFGHANISTAN A Taliban attack on a district government headquarters in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan kills at least seven people — five policemen, a former district chief and a school principal.

INDIA A Mumbai nurse who was in a vegetative state for 42 years after being sexually assaulted while working in a hospital has died, authorities say.

JAPAN China’s aircraft carrier ambitions demonstrate the continuing importance of the mammoth ships in the western Pacific, a senior U.S. Navy officer says as America’s Japan-based carrier begins a long journey home.

JAPAN-USA A fatal crash of a U.S. Marine Corps Osprey in Hawaii renews safety concerns in Japan, where more of the hybrid aircraft are to be deployed.

USA Amtrak trains begin rolling between New York and Philadelphia, the first time in almost a week following a deadly crash in Philadelphia, and officials vow to have safer trains and tracks while investigators work to determine the cause of the derailment.

USA A move to write new war powers to authorize the Obama administration’s 9-month-old battle against Islamic State militants stalls in Congress. President Barack Obama doesn’t seem to mind, and many lawmakers have little interest in having what would be the first war vote in Congress in 13 years.

YEMEN An Iranian official says Saudi Arabia should not be the one hosting talks on Yemen’s conflict since the kingdom is involved in the crisis with Saudi-led airstrikes targeting the country’s Shiite rebels.

UKRAINE Two Russian officers captured while fighting in war-torn eastern Ukraine are being transported to the capital, Kiev, a Ukrainian military spokesman says.

GERMANY  Chancellor Angela Merkel says the Ebola crisis in western Africa has shown the world in a painful way that a global catastrophe plan is needed to deal with future epidemic outbreaks. Merkel told the World Health Assembly yesterday that “the struggle (against Ebola) is only won if there are no new cases and if we have learned the lessons from this crisis: we should have reacted earlier.”

MACEDONIA’s four main political leaders are to resume talks in attempt to carve out a way to resolve a crisis that has roiled the country for months. Yesterday’s meeting, organized by Western diplomats, was set to be attended by conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, main opposition Social Democrat head Zoran Zaev and two ethnic Albanian political leaders. Macedonia faces one of its deepest political crises, stemming from opposition claims that the government illegally wiretapped 20,000 people.

UK A BBC reporting crew spent two nights in a Qatari prison after being arrested while trying to meet migrant workers in the nation that will host the 2022 World Cup, the British broadcaster said yesterday.