World Briefs

CHINA has intensified the drumbeat of its opposition to an international tribunal’s ruling expected today that could threaten its expansive claims in the South China Sea. The Hague-based tribunal will decide on the 2013 case that challenges the so-called nine-dash line that China uses to claim virtually the entire area.

NORTH KOREA said yesterday it will end a diplomatic communication channel with the United States and hinted at harsher punishment for Americans detained in the country in retaliation for U.S. sanctions that target leader Kim Jong Un.

INDONESIA Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped three Indonesian fishermen on the weekend in the latest in a series of incidents highlighting weak security in the Cerebes Sea that borders Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. More on p.14

GERMANY – TURKEY Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will continue pushing for a reversal of Turkey’s ban on Germany lawmakers to visit a Turkish base where German soldiers are stationed. The Turkish government last month banned the lawmakers from visiting the base. It said the country permits only military or technical teams to visit the base.

RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin has visited a famed Russian monastery to pray for Russian servicemen killed in Syria. Two airmen died over the weekend after their helicopter was shot down by Islamic State group fighters east of the ancient city of Palmyra.

INDIA – KENYA Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday held talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi and agreed to further expand investment ties between the two countries and diversify trade.

YEMEN The Saudi-led coalition targeting Yemen’s Shiite rebels has caused extensive damage to the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country’s economic infrastructure in the year-long air campaign, an international rights group has said.

UNITED KINGDOM Prime Minister David Cameron says he will step down tomorrow, making way for Theresa May to succeed him as British leader. May’s only remaining rival, Andrea Leadsom, announced yesterday that she has withdrawn from the contest, a move that Cameron described as the right decision.

ETHIOPIA Government officials have blocked social media sites across the country until the national school examination is concluded on Wednesday. Citizens are complaining about the shutdown, but the government maintains that the move is meant to ensure an “orderly exam process.”