World Briefs

SOUTH CHINA SEA The Philippine defense chief Voltaire Gazmin said yesterday his government has agreed in principle to lease five Japanese surveillance planes to be used in patrolling disputed areas of the South China Sea and in search-and-rescue missions during disasters.

MIGRANT CRISIS The European Commission will back visa-free travel for Turkish citizens inside Europe’s passport-free Schengen area, sources have told the BBC. Visa liberalization was offered in return for Turkey taking back migrants who crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece. But Turkey must still meet EU criteria.

IRAQ The Turkish military says its warplanes have pounded Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, killing 18 militants. The airstrikes targeted Qandil, the mountainous stronghold of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK. Ankara and its Western allies designate the PKK as a terrorist organization.

SYRIAN opposition fighters yesterday shelled government-held parts of Aleppo, killing at least 12 people, as the army claimed it was repelling a wide offensive by the rebels in the city. Meanwhile, the U.N. envoy for Syria met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

NATO The NATO alliance this week is getting a new supreme commander, a former top-ranking U.S. military officer in Korea hailed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter as a proven warrior-diplomat and “a soldiers’ general.” U.S. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti was installed as head of U.S. European Command (EUCOM) at Stuttgart, Germany.

PUERTO RICO  The spiraling debt crisis reaches a milestone as the territory defaults on its largest bond payment yet, missing nearly USD370 million of $420 million that was due today, and warns of an even greater default to come if the U.S. Congress doesn’t approve a restructuring bill.

SERBIA reacted with outrage against UEFA’s decision to accept the former province of Kosovo as its 55th member, saying yesterday it will fight the decision by all legal means. UEFA’s 28-24 vote in favor of Kosovo’s acceptance “is a warning that we live in the world of interest and politics, and not justice and rules,” Serbia’s Foreign Ministry said.