World Briefs

CHINA’s record on nuclear proliferation is facing congressional criticism as the Obama administration seeks renewal of a 30-year agreement that enables American involvement in China’s fast-growing atomic energy industry. The agreement facilitates the transfer of U.S. technology for civilian use, and blocking or delaying it could complicate already tense U.S.-China relations.

USA Bill Cosby, in sworn testimony a decade ago, said he had paid women after sex to keep the affairs from his wife, suggested he was skilled at understanding nonverbal cues for sexual consent and called one of his accusers a liar. The New York Times reported the revelations Saturday after obtaining a copy of a transcript from a deposition Cosby gave in a lawsuit filed by a former Temple University employee who alleges he drugged and molested her.

PHILIPPINES The new U.S. commander of the Pacific Fleet joined a seven-hour surveillance flight over the South China Sea on board one of America’s newest spy planes, a move over the weekend that will likely annoy China. Adm. Scott Swift joined the surveillance mission on board a P-8A Poseidon plane on Saturday to witness the aircraft’s full range of capabilities, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said yesterday.

YEMEN Shiite rebels and their allies randomly shelled an area north of Aden on Sunday, killing at least 45 people and wounding over 100, officials said. The rebels are pushing back against an offensive by their Saudi-backed rivals that uprooted them from areas they control in the strategic port city last week, including the Aden international airport.

MALI Fourteen mausoleums in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu that were destroyed by Islamic extremists have been restored by the United Nations. UNESCO’s director general and Mali’s cultural minister inaugurated the reconstructed mausoleums on Saturday. The entire city of Timbuktu is listed as a World Heritage Site.

ISRAEL In the face of Israeli outrage over the Iran nuclear accord, the Pentagon is moving quickly to reinforce arguably the strongest part of the U.S.-Israeli relationship: military cooperation. But officials say Washington has no plans to offer new weaponry as compensation for the Iran deal.

GAZA At least four explosions rocked Gaza City early yesterday, targeting cars belonging to officials from Islamic factions, including the territory’s Hamas rulers. There was no claim of responsibility, but speculation immediately centered on supporters of the Islamic State group who have been battling with Hamas and other Islamic groups in the small coastal strip.