World Briefs

SOUTH CHINA SEA China’s Foreign Ministry reasserts Beijing’s right to develop its South China Sea island outposts following a U.S. think tank’s report that China has built new radar facilities in the disputed Spratly Islands.

PHILIPPINES It’s not just difficult to predict who will win the presidential elections this year — thanks to some of the candidates’ legal woes, it’s difficult to predict who will be allowed to run. Four are within striking distance. Sen. Grace Poe, a political newcomer, leads opinion polls ahead of the May 9 elections, with Vice President Jejomar Binay, close behind. They are followed by former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of the southern city of Davao.
India Engineers work to restore New Delhi’s full water supply after protesters damaged a key canal in a neighboring state and disrupted supplies over the weekend, highlighting the extreme water vulnerability faced by the capital’s 18 million residents.

INDIA Thousands of students and teachers protest in New Delhi over the death of a student who faced caste discrimination and the arrest of a student leader on sedition charges.

SINGAPORE deports four Indonesians it says were on their way to Syria to join the Islamic State group. The Straits Times newspaper reported that one of them was a 15-year-old boy who was detained Sunday while attempting to enter Singapore from Johor in Malaysia.

JAPAN More than 160 passengers and crew slide down emergency chutes in swirling snow after engine smoke forced a Japan Airlines domestic flight to abort takeoff and smoke entered the cabin, Japanese media report.

USA Florida Sen. Marco Rubio amassed increasing support in his effort to establish himself as the main challenger to front-runner Donald Trump as Republican presidential candidates criss-crossed Nevada on the final day of campaigning ahead of the Western state’s caucuses. A crucial point in the Nevada caucuses is the Adelson’s endorsement. More on p15

USA Country singer Sonny James, who recorded romantic ballads like “Young Love” and turned pop songs into country hits, has died. He was 87. James, whose given name was James Loden, died yesterday in a Nashville hospice facility.

UK London’s Royal Free Hospital has admitted a Scottish nurse who has already recovered from Ebola twice before for another “late complication” from her last infection with the lethal virus.