World Briefs

CHINA-US China promises to rein in steel production that is flooding global markets and to work with Washington to enforce anti-nuclear sanctions against North Korea, but the two sides end high-level talks with no announcements of progress on simmering disputes in the South China Sea.

HONG KONG French cosmetics company Lancome sparks a backlash after it cancels a promotional concert featuring a singer known for pro-democracy views, with many accusing it of caving to political pressure from Beijing.

JAPAN She’s 21, has thyroid cancer, and wants people in her prefecture in northeastern Japan to get screened for it. That statement might not seem provocative, but her prefecture is Fukushima, and of the 173 young people with confirmed or suspected cases since the 2011 nuclear meltdowns there, she is the first to speak out. More on p12
Japanese banks that lost some 1.8 billion yen (USD16.5 million) when fake overseas cards were used at convenience store ATMs are scrambling to combat such fraud.

BANGLADESH Unidentified bike-riding assailants shoot and hack a Hindu priest to death in southwestern Bangladesh amid a spate of similar attacks allegedly by radical Islamist groups since last year.

AUSTRALIAa’s prime minister and opposition leader have agreed to hold the country’s first-ever online election campaign leaders’ debate. Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday that he had reached an agreement with Facebook and News Corp. Australia to stream the debate early next week in a bid to reach more voters. Opposition leader Bill Shorten later agreed to participate.

ISRAEL A court has set free from house arrest an Australian woman wanted by her country for multiple sexual abuses. Yesterday’s ruling says former principal Malka Leifer is mentally unfit to stand trial. She’ll get psychiatric care instead. Leifer, who ran a school for ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls in Melbourne, fled to Israel in 2008.

MYANMAR A BBC reporter was jailed for three months with hard labor after being convicted of assaulting a police officer while covering a student protest. The ruling marks the first time a journalist has been convicted under Myanmar’s new government, run by former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi.

THAILAND Police investigating Thailand’s now infamous Tiger Temple find what they believe is a slaughterhouse and tiger holding facility used in a suspected animal trafficking network.

FRANCE The Euro Disney group has been acquitted of discrimination charges in a trial over a job ad seeking applicants with European citizenship. The company, which had faced $250,000 in fines, welcomed the decision yesterday by a court in Meaux east of Paris. The association that filed the original complaint, SOS-Racisme, is considering an appeal.