World briefs

US Donald Trump’s choice to lead the country’s foreign policy is known for his longstanding support of free trade, international law and an expansive presence in the Middle East that doesn’t fit with Trump’s pitch to supporters. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson also is known for his Russia connections and would be Trump’s most concrete outreach yet to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

China’s foreign minister warned that any moves to damage Beijing’s core interests will be self-detrimental after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he could use the way in which America deals with Taiwan as a bargaining chip.

HONG KONG Billionaire Edwin Leong, one of Hong Kong’s largest retail landlords, got around Hong Kong’s new property curbs and saved almost USD17 million on his tax bill. More on p10

SOUTH KOREA’s conservative ruling party is on the verge of a split following President Park Geun-hye’s parliamentary impeachment last week. More on p13

PHILIPPINES Abu Sayyaf gunmen have freed two Indonesian tugboat crewmen kidnapped by the ransom-seeking militants six months ago and held in the jungles of the southern Philippines.

INDONESIA An enraged mob in central Indonesia forced its way into a police station and beat a man to death yesterday, hours after he was arrested for allegedly stabbing seven children at an elementary school. The children were in stable condition at a hospital, said police spokesman Jules Abraham Abast. They suffered neck, chest and head wounds in the attack yesterday morning on a remote island in East Nusa Tenggara province.

U.K. Official figures show that inflation in the U.K. jumped to a 2-year high of 1.2 percent in the year to November in the wake of higher clothing and fuel costs. The scale of the increase from the previous month’s 0.9 percent was unexpected.

SERBIA The start of the landmark trial in Serbia of eight former Bosnian Serb police officers charged with taking part in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre has been postponed until February amid legal wrangling. Judges said yesterday that the proceedings will resume once the court fulfills the defense team’s demand to learn the identities of protected witnesses in accordance with the law.

BRAZIL A football player who survived an air crash that killed most of his teammates has returned to Brazil. Doctors say goalkeeper Jackson Follmann of the Chapecoenese soccer team is well enough to have back surgery following his arrival in Sao Paulo. The goalie had part of his right leg amputated in Medellin, Colombia after the Nov. 28 crash that killed 71 people, including 19 players. Two other survivors were also returning to Brazil.

FRANCE Days after the Islamic State group seized back control of the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra, a prescient exhibit was inaugurated in Paris yesterday that aims to educate the public on the wounded wonder that Syrians affectionately call the “Bride of the Desert.”