World Briefs

CHINA’s top securities regulator Xiao Gang will step down following months of turmoil in Chinese stock markets that battered faith in Beijing’s economic management.The departure of Xiao, a legal expert with decades of experience in the finance industry, may help assuage public anger at the dramatic boom and bust, but doesn’t address the market’s underlying problems.

UK British voters will choose whether to remain in the EU on June 23 after what is expected to be a feverish campaign. Most gov’t heavyweights back PM David Cameron’s call to stay in.

INDIA Hundreds of security forces imposed a curfew and were ordered to fire without warning in a bid to quell protests by members of an underprivileged community demanding government benefits in a northern state, where at least six people have died in clashes.

MALAYSIA Australia warned yesterday that terrorists may be plotting attacks in and around Kuala Lumpur. The Australian High Commission in Malaysia said in a travel advisory note that there was an ongoing terrorism threat in Malaysia, noting that authorities there have arrested a number of people allegedly involved in planning attacks.

FIJI Most of the country was without electricity yesterday and residents were told to stay inside for a second straight night as officials scrambled to restore services and assess damage in the wake of a ferocious cyclone that left at least six people dead and destroyed homes.

SYRIA The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a triple blast in a Damascus suburb that killed at least 22 people. The Aamaq news agency, which is affiliated with the group, said two IS fighters detonated a car bomb before blowing up their explosive belts in Sayyida Zeinab, a Shiite neighborhood.

UKRAINE About 1,000 nationalists rallied in central Kiev to demand the ouster of the government, which came to power two years ago following months of protests.

USA Protesters are preparing to assemble in more than 30 cities to lash out at the FBI for obtaining a court order that requires Apple to make it easier to unlock an encrypted iPhone used by a gunman in December’s mass shootings in Southern California.