World briefs

CHINA-US The USS Carl Vinson, which is steaming through the South China Sea, is just one of several high-profile displays of U.S. naval power as President Donald Trump’s administration weighs options of how to reassure allies and respond to an assertive China. The new U.S. administration has signaled a tougher approach.

VIETNAM-MALAYSIA A lawyer for one of the women accused of poisoning the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader in Kuala Lumpur says there are serious holes in the case. The lawyer said allegations that Kim Jong Nam had existing health problems should be cause for a new autopsy.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA was shaken by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake yesterday but no destructive tsunami was expected, officials said. The quake struck the South Pacific nation near New Britain island at a depth of 28 kilometers. There were no immediate reports of damage.

NEPAL An Australian trekker has died near the Mount Everest base camp, possibly due to high-altitude sickness, police said yesterday. The 49-year-old man died Friday at Lobuche village, located just below the base camp, at 4,940 meters, Nepalese authorities said.

PAKISTAN Islamic militants attacked several Pakistani military posts in tribal regions along the Afghan border, killing six soldiers, the army said yesterday. Pakistani troops repulsed the attackers, who had crossed overnight from Afghanistan into the Mohmand tribal region, the army statement added.

BAHRAIN government filed a lawsuit yesterday to dissolve a secular political party, the second-such organization it has targeted in the last year as part of an intense crackdown on opposition in the island nation.

HUNGARY The European Union has cleared Hungary to provide state aid to build two nuclear reactors with Russian help after Budapest made commitments to safeguard competition in the energy sector. The Hungarian deal, which was struck three years ago, had been held up because of the EU’s regulatory demands.

SERBIA-MONTENEGRO A Serbian court has rejected a second extradition request by Montenegro for suspects in an alleged pro-Russia plot to overthrow the Balkan country’s government.

UK-RUSSIA Britain’s foreign secretary says he will encourage Russia to change its ways and win back international trust in talks soon with his Russian counterpart. Boris Johnson said that “Russia has to be engaged on a twin-track basis.”

PANAMA A bus carrying farm workers went off a highway and ended up in a stream southwest of Panama’s capital, causing 18 deaths and injuring 37 others, authorities said.