World briefs

SOUTH CHINA SEA  Despite U.S. and Asian calls for self-restraint and new impetus for the resolution of territorial disputes involving China, a high-profile Asian security summit ended over the weekend where it began, with no solution of the rifts in sight. More on p12

AUSTRALIA An Australian newspaper publishes a photograph of a child it said was the son of an Australian convicted terrorist holding aloft the severed head of a Syrian soldier. More on p13

KOREAS South Korea proposed high-level talks with rival North Korea next week to discuss resuming reunions of Korean War-divided families, a proposal that could lead to the easing of tensions after months of North Korean missile tests and heated rhetoric from both countries.

THAILAND A six-story building under construction on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital collapsed yesterday, killing three workers and trapping at least seven others underneath the rubble, police said.

AFGHANISTAN The U.S. failed to properly investigate civilian killings, including possible war crimes, which occurred during its military operations in Afghanistan, Amnesty International said yesterday. NATO said it investigates all credible reports of civilian casualties, without responding to the group’s specific claims.

SPAIN has imported a U.S.-made experimental Ebola drug to treat a Spanish missionary priest evacuated from Liberia last week after testing positive for the killer virus.

UKRAINE Rockets slammed into a high-security prison yesterday in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, igniting a riot that allowed more than 100 prisoners to flee, authorities in eastern Ukraine said.

RUSSIA will send a humanitarian convoy into Ukraine in cooperation with the International Red Cross, the Kremlin said yesterday.

TURKEY Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins Turkey’s first direct presidential election, striking a conciliatory tone toward critics who fear he is bent on a power grab as he embarks on another five years at the country’s helm.

IRAQ’s new president Fouad Massoum yesterday snubbed the powerful incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and nominated the deputy parliament speaker to form the new government, raising fears of more infighting in the government as country faces the threat of Sunni militants in the north.

EGYPT Authorities stopped the executive director of Human Rights Watch and another U.S. staffer from entering the country yesterday ahead of the release of a critical report by the group on mass killings by security forces last summer, the group and security officials said.