World briefs

CHINA has targets for just about everything, from ethanol production to reaching Mars. Now the top economic planning body wants to get more tourists to hit the road, and has even announced targets for skydiving, water skiing and mountain climbing, as authorities push for more consumer spending to aid the economic transition away from old industrial drivers. More on p10

PORTUGAL‘s fragile economy is getting a tonic from tourism this year, with revenue up by more than 10 percent through October including a 20 percent jump in visitors from the United States. Tourism minister Ana Mendes Godinho says the sector brought in some USD11.5 billion in the first 10 months of 2016 — about 1 billion euros more than the same period last year.

JAPAN and the U.S. marked a partial return of the land used by American troops to Okinawa in a ceremony yesterday on the southern island, but there was no sign the move was helping to lessen protests against the island’s heavy U.S. military presence. Nearly 10,000 acres, or half the U.S. military “northern training area” on the island, was returned to Okinawa in exchange for the construction of Osprey aircraft helipads nearby. Residents say the deal only transfers the burden.

SOUTH KOREA‘s Constitutional Court held its first preparatory hearing in the trial of impeached President Park Geun-hye, whom lawmakers voted to remove over an explosive corruption scandal that saw millions of people protest in past weeks. More on p11

THAILAND A pro-democracy activist in Thailand has been rearrested after his bail was revoked in a case accusing him of sharing online a Thai-language BBC story about the country’s new king.

AFGHAN police say gunmen have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the capital, killing eight people and leaving the parliamentarian wounded after he jumped from the roof to escape.

CONGO security forces have killed at least 34 people this week amid protests against President Joseph Kabila’s extended rule, a rights group said yesterday, as mediators urged the ruling and opposition parties to find a way out of the political crisis.

TURKEY‘s president implicated a U.S.-based Muslim cleric in the killing of Russia’s envoy to Turkey, saying the policeman who carried out the attack was a member of his “terror organization.”