World briefs

CHINA The wife of the prominent Chinese political dissident Gao Zhisheng says her husband has been out of contact for three days after he voiced support for a fellow activist who was sentenced to prison last week. Gao, a rights lawyer who defended members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and alleged Chinese authorities tortured him while in detention, has been under tight surveillance since his release from jail in the summer of 2014.

JAPAN’s government has violated the rights of Okinawa’s residents for decades by allowing a heavy presence of American troops on the tiny southern island, Okinawa’s governor tells a court hearing, the start of a legal battle over plans to relocate a U.S. air base.

NORTH KOREA-UN U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power says the United States hopes to schedule a U.N. Security Council meeting this month on the “very grim” human rights situation in North Korea.

INDIA Weeks of torrential rains have forced an airport in southern India to close and have cut off several roads and highways, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes, officials say. More on p13

INDIA’s federal government said it will restore funding to the country’s HIV-AIDS program months after it cut its contribution and asked regional governments to fill in the gaps.

RUSSIA-TURKEY Sharply raising the stakes in Moscow’s spat with Ankara, Russia’s top military brass yesterday accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of personally profiting from oil trade with Islamic State militants.

SPAIN Spain’s Constitutional Court has rejected a Catalan regional parliament resolution setting a road map for independence from Spain by 2017.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron appealed to lawmakers yesterday to authorize the British military to take part in airstrikes in Syria, insisting that Britain should help degrade and destroy the threat posed by the Islamic State group.

MONTENEGRO NATO member states have formally invited the tiny Adriatic nation of Montenegro to join the alliance in the face of Russian opposition. Alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced the invitation yesterday, the second day of a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Russia has repeated its opposition to the accession of Montenegro, a favored getaway spot and investment site for some Russians.
USA Rahm Emanuel (pictured) sought for months to keep the public from seeing a video that shows a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times. Now, a week after the video’s release, the Chicago mayor has fired the police superintendent, created a new task force for police accountability and expanded the use of body cameras.