World Briefs

CHINA Internet giants are providing a haven for bond investors fleeing mounting default risks among the nation’s state-owned enterprises. Investors are snapping up bonds from Alibaba Group, Baidu and Tencent, a bright spot in an economy growing at the slowest pace in a quarter-century. The rising demand also reflects a broader shift in China’s economy away from smokestack industries toward private-sector services such as e-commerce, online finance and entertainment.

JAPAN Searchers yesterday found one of the six crew members from a Japanese military jet that disappeared a day earlier while flying over southern mountains. The Defense Ministry said rescue workers are still searching for the jet and the five other crew members. Only parts of equipment belonging to the jet and the airman, who was in a state of heart failure, were found in the mountains north of the Air Self-Defense Force’s Kanoya base in southern Japan.

VIETNAM’s rubber-stamp parliament elects Nguyen Xuan Phuc as prime minister. He takes office at a time of soaring public debt, a worrying budget deficit and China’s growing assertiveness in nearby seas.
NEW ZEALAND A high school musical in New Zealand got a little too real when a prop razor used in a throat-slitting scene ended up cutting two boy’s necks and sending them to a local hospital overnight.

PANAMA PAPERS The fallout from a massive leak of records on offshore accounts drags a growing number of leaders and celebrities into the spotlight, including Rosberg, Roberto Carlos, Almodovar and Vargas Llosa. And the US is emerging as a top tax haven alongside Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.

ICELAND‘s fisheries and agriculture minister says he will seek the president’s approval to become the next prime minister, after the falling of prime minister followed his links to offshore accounts revealed in Panama Papers’ scandal.

JORDAN The first Syrian family to be resettled in the U.S. under a speeded-up “surge operation” for refugees leaves Jordan for Kansas City, Missouri, to start a new life.

NETHERLANDS A clear majority of people who voted in a Dutch referendum have rejected a far-reaching European Union free trade deal with Ukraine, but an exit poll shows turnout may have been too low for the vote to be valid.

USA John Kerry is now the most traveled secretary of state in U.S. history, pushing past 1.06 million miles.

VANUATU Another strong earthquake struck the Pacific nation of Vanuatu but there was no tsunami threat and no immediate reports of any damage or injuries. The magnitude-6.9 quake was the third strong earthquake to strike Vanuatu since Sunday, although none have caused problems.