World Briefs

Mark ZuckerbergCHINA Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a rare meeting with China’s propaganda chief, Liu Yunshan at a time when Chinese authorities are tightening control over their cyberspace.

CHINA’s film authorities have suspended the license of a distributor that inflated box office figures for Hong Kong martial arts movie “Ip Man 3,” according to state media.

AUSTRALIA Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Australia to call on the federal government not to send asylum seekers back to Nauru Island. The protests come following a High Court ruling last month that declared Australia’s offshore detention at Nauru and Manus Island is legal.

Grace PoePHILIPPINES A Philippine presidential debate has erupted into heated exchanges over allegations of corruption, a lack of patriotism and incompetence that have been hurled against some of the four leading candidates who are locked in a tight race to lead their divided nation.

PAKISTAN officials say a mudslide buried eight teenage students returning home after exams in the country’s north, which has seen heavy rains in recent days. A spokesman for the local disaster management authority said that they are working with the army, police and paramilitary forces to recover the bodies of the students, who are presumed dead.

Russia Plane CrashRUSSIA The black box from a passenger plane that crashed in southern Russia on Saturday, killing all 62 people on board, has been found. The Boeing 737-800, operated by budget airline FlyDubai, nose-dived and erupted in flames while trying to land at Rostov-on-Don airport.

KAZAKHSTAN Voters in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan headed to the polling stations yesterday for an election that is intended to confirm the ruling party’s solid grip over parliament.

TURKEY A key suspect in a suicide bombing that left five dead in Istanbul’s main shopping district had ties to the Islamic State, said Turkey’s interior minister. Two Israeli-Americans, one Israeli and an Iranian died in the busy shopping district and at least 36 people were injured.

SPAIN At least 14 people are believed to have been killed as a bus crashed near Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain. The accident occurred yesterday on a motorway between Valencia and Barcelona.

GUINEA A new outbreak of Ebola has killed four people in Guinea since Feb. 29, but the World Health Organization has sais that it is unlikely that a pandemic will occur again as the country’s health department is prepared this time to deal with the virus.

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