World Briefs

TIBET Chinese authorities have refused to release the body of a Tibetan lama who died in a Chinese prison, prompting a sit-in outside the prison by more than 100 Tibetans, a pro-Tibet rights group says.

S KOREA More than 60 South Koreans, including two former navy chiefs of staff, are indicted in an investigation into corruption associated with numerous defense procurement projects.

S KOREA A Samsung company removes cartoons attacking a U.S. hedge fund’s founder as a ravenous, big-beaked vulture after Jewish organizations protested similar smears in South Korea’s media. The fund, Elliott, is opposing a takeover deal between Samsung companies that critics say will ensure Samsung’s founding family retains outsized influence over the conglomerate.

THAILAND’s prime minister yesterday told farmers to stop using water in agriculture to save it for public consumption, as the capital remained spared from the worst drought in decades.

USA-JAPAN A major Japanese corporation will offer a landmark apology this weekend for using U.S. prisoners of war for forced labor during World War II, according to the group that is hosting the event. A senior executive of Mitsubishi Materials Corp. will apologize to 94-year-old James Murphy, of Santa Maria, California, and relatives of other former POWs who toiled at plants its predecessor company operated in Japan during the conflict.

NEPAL’s government is urging other countries to lift travel advisories that discourage their citizens from visiting the Himalayan nation following a devastating earthquake in April that killed thousands of people.

AFGHANISTAN A reclusive Afghan Taliban leader has backed peace talks with the Kabul government, saying in a rare message distributed to media yesterday that the goal of these efforts is an “end to occupation” by foreign forces. Mullah Mohammad Omar’s message was released ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In the statement, he also urged Muslim leaders of the world to unite and pledged to continue holy war, or jihad, until foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

LIBERIA A second person in Liberia has died from Ebola in the latest resurgence of the deadly disease in the West African nation, an official said yesterday.

USA NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft got humanity’s first up-close look at Pluto early yesterday, sending word of its triumph across 3 billion miles to scientists waiting breathlessly back home. Confirmation of mission success came 13 hours after the actual flyby and, after a day of both jubilation and tension, allowed the New Horizons team to finally celebrate in full force. NASA said the spacecraft — the size of a baby grand piano — swept to within 7,700 miles of Pluto at 31,000 mph. It was programmed to then go past the dwarf planet and begin studying its far side.

GERMANY Oskar Groening confessed during his trial to feeling “moral guilt” for serving as an SS sergeant at Auschwitz. Yesterday, a court ruled that he was guilty of being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 Jews and sentenced him to four years in prison.