World briefs

CHINA Nationalists are protesting at KFC outlets and calling for a boycott, spurred by government accusations that Washington encouraged Manila to oppose Beijing’s claims to vast tracts of ocean. Photos circulated online show young Chinese wearing scarves with patriotic slogans smashing Apple iPhones in protest.

VIETNAM The Communist Party-dominated National Assembly opened its first session following May elections to elect the country’s top leaders. Speaking at the opening of the event, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong called for greater efforts for the country’s development. More on p12
NORTH KOREA said yesterday it test-fired ballistic rockets as part of a simulated pre-emptive attack on ports and airfields in South Korea, in a likely reference to the three missile launches that Seoul says the North carried out a day earlier. Leader Kim Jong Un guided the launches and expressed his satisfaction with them, the North’s state media reported.

IRAQ The upcoming military campaign to wrest control of the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State group could affect as many as 1.5 million civilians, making it one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, a United Nations official said yesterday.
UAE The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority says it is committed to a long-term investment strategy despite a slump in oil prices and concerns about slower economic growth worldwide. ADIA is based in the capital of OPEC member United Arab Emirates and is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

TURKEY Asserting that “all the evidence” points to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric as the mastermind of last week’s failed coup, Turkey’s government on Tuesday fired tens of thousands of teachers, university deans and others accused of ties to the plot and demanded the cleric’s extradition.

UKRAINE A prominent journalist was killed in a car bombing in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, yesterday, sending shockwaves through the Ukrainian journalist community that was shaped by the gruesome killing of the publication’s founder 16 years ago. The country’s top online news website Ukrainska Pravda said its journalist Pavel Sheremet died in an explosion yesterday as he got into his car to drive to work to anchor a talk show on a local radio station.

UGANDA A Ugandan-led rebel group operating in Central Africa abducted 498 civilians and killed 17 others in the first half of this year, a watchdog organization said yesterday, suggesting a resurgence of the group whose leader is the target of an international manhunt.