World briefs

US-KOREA The United States warned that any attack on American allies or use of nuclear weapons by North Korea would be met with an “overwhelming” U.S. response as it sought to reassure close ally South Korea that the U.S. has its back. The U.S. military says it detected a “failed” North Korean missile launch this week.

CHINA-PHILIPPINES The Philippines says Xi Jinping has committed more than USD9 billion in low-interest loans to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation in his meeting with Rodrigo Duterte who has set aside territorial disputes in a bid for Beijing’s help.

PHILIPPINES It was the bodies that bothered Betchie Salvador the most. They had begun turning up in cities all over the Philippines ever since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a controversial war on drugs this year — dealers, pushers, users, all shot by police or slain by unknown gunmen.

INDONESIA A man with an Islamic State group symbol was shot yesterday after attacking police on the outskirts of Jakarta with a machete, police said.

INDONESIA A court sentenced an Islamic militant to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a suicide bombing and gun attack in the capital Jakarta earlier this year. Dodi Suridi, 23, was captured a day after the Jan. 14 attack that killed eight people including four militants, who police said claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.

AUSTRALIA The government has quietly lifted the threat of jailing doctors who speak out against child abuse and neglect of asylum seekers in detention, doctors’ lawyers revealed yesterday.

HONG KONG An Asian consortium is looking to buy English Premier League club Hull for 130 million pounds. A document on the Hong Kong stock exchange said GreaterChina Professional Services has entered into a “heads of terms agreement” with Hull’s Egyptian-born owner, Assem Allam, relating to the sale of the northern club.

MARKETS Asian stocks rose yesterday as traders watched U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump argue economic policy and looked ahead to a meeting of euro zone central bankers. More on p15

PAKISTAN A government official says rescuers have retrieved the bodies of two Chinese engineers from a mine weeks after they were trapped while trying to rescue a Pakistani co-worker. Pakistan is making arrangements to repatriate the bodies of the Chinese engineers.

AUSTRIAN Airlines says that a crack in a cockpit windshield forced one of its flights from Cyprus to Vienna to make an unscheduled landing in Belgrade, leaving passengers to spend the night in the Serbian capital. The company said the decision to cut the flight short between the Vienna and Larnaca was purely a precautionary measure. The crew and 190 passengers on Flight OS832 spent the night in hotels and are scheduled to fly to Vienna today.