World briefs

USA His candidacy spiraling out of control, Donald Trump faced Hillary Clinton on the debate stage yesterday in the most critical moment of his political career. Questions about Trump’s preparation, policy knowledge and temperament all were overshadowed by the political fallout from Friday’s release of a video that captured the Republican presidential nominee making predatory sexual comments about women a decade earlier.

CHINA At least 17 people were killed yesterday in the collapse of a group of decrepit homes in eastern China, state media reported.By evening, 23 people, including 17 who were dead, had pulled from the rubble on the outskirts of the city of Wenzhou and rescue efforts were continuing. More on p10
Thailand The health of Thailand’s ailing 88-year-old king has deteriorated and his condition is unstable, the palace said, adding to concerns about the eventual succession of the monarchy.

CAMBODIA A Cambodian court sentenced an opposition lawmaker who has been a strong critic of the government’s handling of demarcating the border with neighboring Vietnam to 2 1/2 years in prison for online postings he made.

VIETNAM A court in central Vietnam rejected lawsuits from hundreds of fishermen seeking compensation from a Taiwanese steel company for losses caused by its release of toxic chemicals that killed a large number of fish and caused one of the country’s worst environmental disasters.

INDIA Anxious to quell anti-India protests in Kashmir, Indian forces are carrying out their most severe crackdown in more than two decades against civilian protesters, arresting more than 8,000 this summer across the disputed Himalayan territory.

AFGHANISTAN A suicide car bombing killed 14 people, including 10 Afghan police officers, as the Taliban launches a large-scale attack on the capital in southern Helmand province, the heartland of the insurgency.

SOUTH AFRICA One of the country’s top universities descended into violence on Monday, with police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon at stone-throwing students who are locked in a bitter national dispute with administrators and the government over demonstrators’ demands for free education.