World briefs

CHINA Police wounded at least 10 Tibetans when they opened fire on a crowd protesting the arrest of a village leader, a Tibetan rights group said. Authorities used tear gas on the crowd and put the area in southwestern China under tight control, interrogating children and the elderly, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said in an e-mailed statement, citing Tibetans in exile it didn’t identify. The group said the shooting occurred Aug. 12 in Shiqu county of China’s Sichuan province, which neighbors Tibet.

CHINA Performing arts associations in Beijing have pledged not to hire any actors connected with drugs, state media report, after an actor became the latest Chinese celebrity detained in one of China’s sternest crackdowns on illegal drug use in two decades.

USA-ASIA Improving U.S. cooperation with China is critical to maintaining stability and security in the Asia-Pacific as well as combating the effects climate change, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says.

VIETNAM U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey becomes the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to visit Vietnam since 1971, seeking to boost military ties between the former foes at a time when Hanoi is embroiled in territorial disputes with China.

JAPAN Buoys are floated off the southernmost island of Okinawa in one of the first steps in the long-planned but highly contentious relocation of an American military base.

AFGHANISTAN A roadside bomb strikes a police car in eastern Laghman province, killing three officers and wounding four others.

NEW ZEALAND A surprising theme has emerged in New Zealand’sa election campaign: racism. Racially charged comments made by the leaders of two political parties and a candidate for a third have struck a jarring tone in the South Pacific nation of 4.5 million people, which generally prides itself on its tolerance. Political billboards have even been defaced with anti-Semitic slurs.

GAZA A five-day extension of a Gaza truce appeared to be holding despite a rocky start yesterday, fanning cautious optimism of progress in the negotiations underway in Cairo between Israel and major Palestinian factions, including Hamas. It’s the longest cease-fire yet since the war broke out last month in the Gaza Strip.

UKRAINE A Russian aid convoy is on the road again, taking a highway which leads to the rebel-held city of Luhansk. The choice of route suggests that Russia is not abiding by an earlier, tentative agreement to deliver the aid to a Ukraine government-controlled crossing in the Kharkiv region, where it could be inspected by the Red Cross.

GERMANY The shaky economic recovery in the 18-country eurozone ground to a halt in the second quarter, as the continent’s central pillars — Germany and France — were held back by weaker investment by business and by fears over the crisis in Ukraine.

USA The casts of “Aladdin” — both the 1992 film and the current Broadway hit — are honoring Robin Williams, who played the manic, fast-talking, unforgettable Genie. The Broadway community honored Williams by dimming marquee lights for one minute Wednesday.