World briefs

CHINA A falling roof triggered a gas outburst in a central Chinese coal mine that killed five people and trapped seven others. The outburst occurred Wednesday night when 51 workers were underground at the mine in the city of Dengfeng in Henan province, state broadcaster CCTV said.

SINGAPORE is due to deliver a blueprint outlining strategies to boost the economy as the export-dependent nation seeks new growth engines. The Committee on the Future Economy will publish its recommendations in a few weeks time, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his New Year Message.

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte will consider joint naval exercises with Russia, his spokesman said yesterday, months after he decided to reduce military drills with the U.S. At a briefing in the presidential palace, spokesman  Ernesto Abella said Duterte saw this week’s visit by two Russian warships to Manila would enhance friendship between the navies. 

AUSTRALIA scrambled to calm tensions with Indonesia yesterday, promising that an investigation was nearly complete into an alleged insult of Indonesian state ideology that prompted Indonesia to suspend military cooperation with its neighbor. 

SOUTH KOREA’s Constitutional Court began to hear oral arguments in the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye, who lawmakers voted to remove over a corruption scandal that saw millions of people protest over the last several months.

TAIWAN has protested Vietnam sending four of its nationals accused of fraud to China, saying they were denied visits by Taiwanese diplomats and forcibly sent to the mainland under pressure from Beijing. 

COLOMBIA The United Nations is removing four officials from its peacekeeping mission in Colombia following an uproar over a video showing observers dancing with leftist rebels they’re supposed to be monitoring.

ISRAELI police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday for the second time over allegations that he improperly accepted gifts from wealthy supporters, pressing ahead with a probe that has threatened to challenge his entrenched leadership even as he has adamantly denied wrongdoing.

KOSOVO A former Kosovar prime minister is facing possible extradition to Serbia to face war crimes charges after being arrested at a French airport. Ramush Haradinaj is scheduled to appear in a court in Colmar in eastern France. The court will decide whether to keep him in custody during extradition proceedings or release him under judicial supervision.