World Briefs

USA Donald Trump blamed the moderator, a bad microphone and anyone but himself yesterday after he was forced onto defense by Hillary Clinton’s cascade of critiques about his taxes, honesty and character in the first presidential debate.

CHINA A gas explosion at a coal mine in northwest China  killed nine people and left 11 others trapped underground, China’s state broadcaster reported. The explosion happened yesterday morning at a mine in the Shizuishan city area of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China Central Television said. Rescuers were trying to reach the trapped and the cause of the explosion was under investigation.

TAIWAN Strong winds knock down people and scatter debris as a large typhoon crosses over Taiwan, killing four people and injuring more than 26.

VIETNAM Hundreds of fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill.

PHILIPPINE officials say they have ordered the suspension of 20 more mines, mostly nickel producers, for environmental violations, threatening to tighten supply from the world’s top nickel ore exporter.

SRI LANKA The body of a newspaper editor killed seven years ago was exhumed for a fresh investigation as Sri Lanka’s government looks anew at multiple unsolved killings of journalists under a previous government.

IRAN An adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s former hard-line president, says the politician won’t seek re-election in next year’s presidential vote after apparently being discouraged by the country’s supreme leader.

AGHANISTAN An official says that at least 13 Afghan army soldiers were killed when a group of Taliban militants attacked their checkpoint in northern Kunduz province.