World Briefs

CHINA is marking National Security Education Day with a poster warning young female government workers about dating handsome foreigners who could turn out to have secret agendas.

CHINA President Xi Jinping extended his condolences to Japan’s emperor over the country’s recent deadly earthquakes in a brief respite from the usual rancor between Beijing and Tokyo

RUSSIA FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the country’s human rights record yesterday in his first visit to the 2018 World Cup host nation since taking charge of soccer’s governing body, saying the country was “open and welcoming.”

SYRIA The opposition coalition negotiating in Geneva said yesterday there can be no solution in Syria with President Bashar Assad in power, and called for international monitors to observe a cessation of hostilities agreement that has all but collapsed.

CUBA State media say Raul Castro will hold the Cuban Communist Party’s highest post for another five years. It’s an apparent message that the island’s aging revolutionary leaders will retain control in the face of detente with the United States and widespread popular dissatisfaction with the country’s economic performance.

FRANCE  is reorganizing its police special forces, responding to allegations that rivalries between the three major branches of law enforcement hampered the response to the attacks in November.

NETHERLANDS  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has used the official opening of the International Criminal Court’s new headquarters to renew calls for more countries to join the world’s first permanent criminal tribunal and cooperate in its investigations.

USA As more than a foot of rain deluged the nation’s fourth-largest city, inundating homes, shutting down major highways and leaving at least five people dead, Houston’s mayor said there was no immediate solution.

AUSTRALIA A politician has poked fun at a video recorded by actor Johnny Depp and his wife Amber Heard over their now infamous dog smuggling spat with Australian quarantine officials.