World briefs

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte threatened yesterday to unleash new attack aircraft and the “full power of the state” against communist rebels if a new round of peace talks fails, and insisted they accept new conditions including a halt to extortion and to territorial claims.

CHINA Twelve people died and another 19 were injured in central China’s Hunan Province yesterday after their truck overturned, local authorities said. The accident happened at about 5:50 p.m. as the truck owned by a landscaping company was on the way back after the workers finished their tree planting work in Chenzhou City.

INDONESIA Rescue teams using heavy equipment recovered another body yesterday from a landslide that swept into a village on Indonesia’s main island, bringing the number of retrieved bodies to three.

JAPAN said yesterday that it is returning its recalled ambassador to South Korea despite a continuing impasse over a “comfort woman” statue, but insisted it is not caving in to Seoul’s position.

QATAR laid out plans yesterday to boost production from a vast underwater natural gas field by 10 percent, giving the energy-rich Gulf nation potential new revenue as it pursues ambitious infrastructure plans.

EGYPT The family of an Italian graduate student tortured to death in Egypt is urging Pope Francis to seek information about the case during his upcoming visit to Cairo.

CYPRUS The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus said more work is needed to prepare the ground for the resumption of stalled reunification talks, despite having their first face-to-face meeting after nearly two months that was hoped would clear the negotiations logjam.

GERMANY A German court handed lengthy prison sentences yesterday to four Islamic extremists over plots to bomb a train station and kill a far-right politician.

U.S. The Catholic Church on the Pacific island of Guam has been devastated by allegations that its longtime archbishop sexually abused altar boys. But even before the scandal broke, Guam’s church was divided over another issue — the presence of a controversial European lay movement that became so toxic that a community of nuns fled to the mainland U.S. in despair.

EU-SYRIA The European Union’s top diplomat says it is unrealistic to think that President Bashar Assad could retain power over any future government in a post-war Syria. “It is for the Syrians to decide – but for all Syrians to decide,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said.