World briefs

US-MALTA A decade-old program to resettle a fixed quota of refugees arriving in the small, southern EU nation of Malta to the United States is another casualty of Trump’s executive order on immigration. U.S. Ambassador G. Kathleen Hill told Maltese media this week that the refugee resettlement program has been suspended for 120 days under the order.

KOREA In his first public remarks abroad as U.S. defense secretary, Jim Mattis criticizes North Korea for provocative acts and says he will consult with South Korean and Japanese officials about whether the current strategy for getting the North to curtail or eliminate its nuclear and missile programs is adequate.

JAPAN-US Angling to pre-empt complaints over Japan’s perennial trade surplus with the U.S., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly plans to propose a sweeping economic cooperation initiative meant to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. when he meets with President Donald Trump later this month.

THAILAND Almost three tons of scales from endangered African pangolins, hidden in sacks, are seized at Bangkok’s main airport. A wildlife anti-trafficking group says the haul is worth more than USD1 million on the illegal market and represents as many as 6,000 dead animals.

THAILAND  Media organizations are protesting a bill that would require journalists to be licensed and would establish a council that can penalize news outlets for violating professional standards.

INDIA At least eight policemen were killed in a land mine blast suspected to have been carried out by Maoist rebels in their stronghold in eastern India, police said. Another five policemen were injured when their vehicle was blown up in Koraput region, nearly 550 km south of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state.

ISRAEL’s prime minister has vowed to build a new West Bank settlement “as soon as possible” following the court-ordered demolition of an illegally built settler outpost. Benjamin Netanyahu spoke as Israeli forces were completing the evacuation of the Amona outpost yesterday. His government tried to block the evacuation but was overruled by the Supreme Court.

UKRAINE Two Ukrainian troops have been killed in the country’s industrial east as both government forces and rebels reported shelling on their positions overnight. Ten other troops were wounded as fighting in Ukraine’s industrial heartland entered its fifth day, the government’s press office for the military operation in the east said.