World briefs

INDONESIA  Two women tourists, from Austria and Germany, were killed and about 20 other people injured in an explosion on a speedboat that was ferrying them from the island of Bali to neighboring Lombok. A manifest showed that passengers were from several countries including Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Spain.

MYANMAR economists and businessmen welcomed President Barack Obama’s announcement that the U.S. will lift economic sanctions and restore long-lost trade benefits to the Southeast Asian country as it emerges from half a century of oppressive military rule.

CHINA-UK The British government yesterday approved the construction of the country’s first new nuclear power plant in more than two decades, a French and Chinese-backed project that had prompted high-level fears about national security. The government said that it had decided to proceed with the 18 billion-pound Hinkley Point plant in southwest England.

KOREA’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he has never seen tensions on the Korean Peninsula as high as they are today and calls on the Security Council to take urgent action to prevent “provocative actions” by North Korea.

FLIGHT MH370 A wing flap that washed ashore on an island off Tanzania has been identified as belonging to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian officials say.

JAPAN-US Opponents of planned U.S. helipads on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa step up protests in Tokyo after the central government used military aircraft to transport equipment for the project.

JAPAN Dressed in a white pants suit, the new head of Japan’s main opposition party stood out as she raised her hands on stage with three other dark-suited party leaders. Renho Murata, who generally goes by only her first name, is one of three women who have assumed prominent political posts in recent weeks in a country more known for its male-dominated political and business hierarchy.

PAKISTAN Police arrest the father, husband and brother of a woman who was tortured and hanged alongside her alleged boyfriend in a so-called honor killing in the village of Mian Channu, in eastern Punjab province.

WWI Britain’s Prince Charles and other dignitaries honor thousands of soldiers from New Zealand and other Pacific islands killed 100 years ago in World War I.

SAMSUNG Samsung’s recall of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 phones after several dozen caught fire and exploded may stem from a subtle manufacturing error, but it highlights the challenge electronics makers face in packing ever more battery power into ever thinner phones, while rushing for faster release dates.