World Briefs

HONG KONG Days after it was launched, organizers have canceled an art installation on Hong Kong’s tallest skyscraper that carried a politically provocative message about the city’s relationship with mainland China.

U.S. President Barack Obama lifts a half-century-old ban on selling arms to Vietnam, looking to bolster a government seen as a crucial, though flawed partner in a region that he has tried to place at the center of his foreign policy legacy.

THAILAND A nighttime fire at a dormitory at a primary school in northern Thailand kills 18 girls, many of whom had been roused by a dorm-mate but went back to sleep, thinking it was a prank.

JAPAN’s fertility rate rose slightly last year, to the highest level since 1994, indicating Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic program may had some success in slowing the rate of population decline. The total rate rose to 1.46 in 2015, inching up 0.04 percentage points from the previous year, according to the health ministry. The biggest contribution to the change came from women aged 30 to 34.

YEMEN A pair of suicide bombings killed at least 45 people in Yemen’s southern city of Aden yesterday, security officials said. They said the bombings targeted young men seeking to join the army.

EGYPT’s tourism minister said last week’s EgyptAir plane crash is unlikely to affect government plans to attract millions of visitors next year. The ministry is maintaining its projection that 10 million tourists will visit the North African nation in 2017, generating USD12 billion in revenue.

AUSTRIA Left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen won the election to become Austrian president yesterday, but his right-wing rival was only narrowly behind, a result that reflects the growing strength of Europe’s anti-EU political movements.

GERMANY Violent crimes motivated by right-wing political opinions rose more than 40 percent in last year as the country saw a large influx of migrants.

BURKINA Faso Across the country’s capital, even the wealthiest neighborhoods, typically spared from such shortages, are suffering without water amid an unprecedented heat wave. Already the short supply has increased the price of a barrel of water more than 10 fold from just a few months ago.