World briefs

NORTH KOREA executed five senior security officials with anti-aircraft guns because they made false reports that “enraged” leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s spy agency says.

SOUTH KOREA The main opposition parties threaten to impeach the country’s acting leader after he refused to extend a special investigation into the huge corruption scandal that toppled conservative President Park Geun-hye. If successful, the impeachment of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn would rile an already tumultuous political landscape.

PHILIPPINES Abu Sayyaf extremists released a video of the beheading of a German hostage in the first sign the brutal militants carried out a threat to kill him after a ransom deadline lapsed over the weekend. More on p13

PHILIPPINES A senator and leading critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly crackdown on illegal drugs petitions the Supreme Court to nullify a Manila court’s arrest warrant against her for drug charges and release her from jail.

PAKISTAN Islamabad and other parts of the country have been put on high alert after a series of militant attacks. Police said yesterday that extra checkpoints have been set up and patrols intensified in the capital.

AFGHANISTAN A senior Taliban commander was killed Kunduz province, according to the Afghan president and the militant group. During a ceremony yesterday honoring the security and defense forces, President Ashraf Ghani said that Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban’s shadow governor for Kunduz province, had been killed.

VIETNAM Several surviving widows and families of former Japanese soldiers will have an opportunity to meet with Japanese Emperor Akihito when he visits Vietnam for the first time this week, starting today. 

AUSTRALIA U.S. security officers have yet to be authorized by President Donald Trump’s administration to vet refugees held on Pacific islands for potential resettlement in the United States, an Australian official said. Trump has reluctantly agreed to honor an Obama administration deal to accept up to 1,250 refugees refused entry into Australia, but has said they will be subjected to “extreme vetting.”

USA One of three men shot at a bar in suburban Kansas City spoke at a weekend vigil, saying “I wish it was a dream.” Alok Madasani told a crowd at the Ball Conference Center in Olathe, Kansas, that “what happened that night [Wednesday] was a senseless crime and that took away my best friend.”

USA United Airlines, which lost the distinction of being the world’s biggest carrier after shrinking for several years, plans to regain lost ground by adding more flights from key airports this summer. The airline wants to upgrade facilities at key airports and trim the use of smaller planes on important business routes.