World Briefs

CHINA A semi-trailer truck rear-ended two sedans on a road in northwest China’s Qinghai Province yesterday, leaving seven people dead and five injured. The truck rear-ended a sedan and pushed it forward to hit another trailer in front. The sedan then hit a sign board on the side, leaving all five passengers dead. Then the trailer decoupled from the truck and hit another sedan and injured four passengers inside. Two passengers in the truck died at the scene.

Japan WWII Hirohito SpeechJAPAN On Saturday, the Imperial Household Agency released the digital version of the original 4 ½-minute speech delivered by Emperor Hirohito at the end of World War II ahead of the 70th anniversary of the speech and the war’s end. In it, Hirohito’s “jewel voice” — muffled and nearly inaudible due to poor sound quality — appears clearer, slightly higher and more intense.

MALAYSIA Secretary of State John Kerry will push Malaysia to redouble its efforts against human trafficking during an upcoming visit for regional security talks. Kerry’s visit, starting Wednesday, comes a week after the department faced a storm of protest for lifting Malaysia off its trafficking blacklist. U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists say the decision was intended to smooth the way for a trade agreement among 12 Pacific rim nations, including Malaysia.

RUSSIA A Russian military helicopter crashed yesterday during an aerobatic display, killing one of its crewmembers and injuring another, the Defense Ministry said.

BURUNDI A Burundi general who was a key security ally of President Pierre Nkurunziza was killed yesterday in a drive-by shooting in the capital, Bujumbura, a presidential spokesman said.

HAWAII  Trade ministers from a dozen Pacific Rim nations failed to reach a deal on a new trade agreement that would cover nearly 40 percent of the global economy, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Friday. The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are aimed at erasing most tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment among participants.

USA Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, earned more than $139 million between 2007 and 2014, according to eight years of federal income tax returns released by her campaign.

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