World briefs

TAIWAN Seeking to revive its long-dormant aerospace industry, Taiwan yesterday launched a USD2.1 billion investment in the production of air force jet trainers to be designed and manufactured on the island to counter Chinese military and diplomatic pressure. 

PHILIPPINES President Rodrigo Duterte berated more than 200 policemen accused of a variety of offenses, threatening on national television yesterday that he would send them to a southern island to fight militants dreaded for beheading captives. The policemen from metropolitan Manila are accused of a range of offenses, including extortion, illegal arrests and personal drug use.

THAILAND’s king has named a new supreme patriarch to head the country’s Buddhist order, ending a deadlock that left the position empty for more than three years. The law was changed in December to allow the king sole authority to appoint the supreme patriarch.

AUSTRALIA An Australian senator and outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump announced yesterday he will start a new political party to appeal to disenfranchised conservatives. Bernardi told the Senate he had resigned from the party to start his new party called Australian Conservatives.

PAKISTAN has extended the deadline for its 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees to return home, saying they can remain through the end of this year. Authorities have not said what they plan to do once the deadline expires.

ISRAEL The United Nations’ Mideast envoy said yesterday a new Israeli law legalizing dozens of unlawful West Bank settler outposts crossed a “very thick red line,” while Israeli rights groups said they would fight to overturn the measure in the Supreme Court.

FRANCE Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was ordered yesterday to stand trial in an inquiry into alleged campaign finance fraud during his failed 2012 re-election bid, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

LITHUANIA More than 1,000 NATO soldiers being stationed in Lithuania sends a clear signal that the alliance stands “strong and united” in the Baltics in the face of Russian aggression, the Lithuanian president said yesterday.

PERU A major corruption scandal shaking politicians across Latin America continued spreading across the region yesterday as Peru’s attorney general announced he would seek the arrest of former President Alejandro Toledo (pictured) on charges of laundering of assets and influence trafficking.