World briefs

INDIA-CHINA Indian and Chinese troops face off along their Himalayan border as the countries’ leaders hold a rare meeting in New Delhi, promising to boost economic cooperation and substantially increase Chinese investment in India’s infrastructure.

FIJI International observers endorse the landmark Fiji election as credible, although most smaller political parties said they would not accept what appeared to be a decisive win for the South Pacific country’s military ruler. The Multinational Observer Group said the result of Wednesday’s election, while still being finalized, would broadly reflect the will of voters. The endorsement paves the way for international sanctions to be dropped, including Fiji’s likely return this month to full status among the Commonwealth group of nations.

NORTH KOREA is not accepting American offers to send a high-level envoy to seek the release of three detained Americans, a senior U.S. official said. Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told The Associated Press that freeing the detainees could provide a diplomatic opening in ties, also snared by Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons. But he said that Washington would not give into attempts to “extort” political gain from the detentions.

CANADA Doctors say Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will undergo 40 days of chemotherapy treatment for a rare and difficult-to-beat cancer that forced him to drop his bid for re-election.

JAPAN An international whaling conference votes against Japan’s plans to resume whaling in the Antarctic next year, but Japan vows to go ahead anyway. A resolution adopted at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Portoroz, Slovenia, says Japan should abide by an International Court of Justice ruling that said that its whaling program is illegal because it isn’t for research purposes.

BANGLADESH’s parliament now has the authority to impeach Supreme Court judges after lawmakers voted to approve a much-debated amendment to the constitution. The amendment passed unanimously in a voice vote of 327-0, with support coming from the ruling Awami League.

VIETNAM A Vietnamese court sentences four policemen to up to 17 years in prison for beating a suspect to death, in an unusually harsh punishment for police brutality.

PHILIPPINES Authorities say they have arrested 43 suspected members of a syndicate that runs a lucrative online cybersex operation catering to clients worldwide.

UKRAINE President Petro Poroshenko asked the U.S. to give his soldiers lethal military equipment in its battle against Russian-backed separatists, saying that one cannot win the war or keep the peace with blankets and night vision goggles.

UK Scots held the fate of the United Kingdom in their hands yesterday as they voted in a referendum on becoming an independent state. The question on the ballot paper was simplicity itself: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Yet it has divided Scots during months of campaigning, and polls suggest the result is too close to call.