World briefs

CHINA is facing a one-year ban from weightlifting over repeated doping cases in a move that threatens to stop some of the world’s top athletes from competing internationally.

MYANMAR Using brooms and their hands, soldiers and residents of an ancient Myanmar city famous for its historic Buddhist temples begin cleaning up debris from a powerful earthquake that shook the region and damaged nearly 200 pagodas. At least four people were killed and at least 171 pagodas were damaged in Bagan after a 6.8 magnitude quake struck the area.

PHILIPPINES Abu Sayyaf extremists behead a kidnapped Filipino villager after a ransom deadline lapsed in their first such brutal act under President Rodrigo Duterte, who pressed an order for troops to crush the militants. More on p11

SOUTH KOREA Surviving South Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s military in World War II will be eligible to receive around 100 million won (about USD90,000) each from a foundation that will be funded by the Japanese government.

AFGHANISTAN A brazen, hours-long militant attack on the American University of Afghanistan ends after at least 13 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the assault on the sprawling campus on Kabul’s outskirts.

SYRIA  Kurdish forces have started withdrawing east of the Euphrates River, Turkish officials said yesterday, a move that could fulfill a major demand by Ankara and the United States a day after Turkey sent in tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels take a key Islamic State stronghold.

BRITAIN Some 30 demonstrators have gathered in London to protest local French bans of the body-covering burkini swimsuit. The protesters threw a ‘wear what you want’ beach party outside the French Embassy to make the point that it was unjust to tell women what to wear.

SPAIN A small Spanish town has come under fire for alleged cruelty to animals after a video showing a young calf being taunted, stabbed and eventually killed in the town’s festival was much criticized on social media.

BRAZIL’s Senate has begun deliberating on whether to permanently remove President Dilma Rousseff from office. The impeachment trial is the final step in a leadership fight that has all but paralyzed Congress since the measure was launched in the lower chamber late last year.