World briefs

CHINA’s plan to build a “new Silk Road” of ports, railways and roads to expand trade across Asia and Africa is stirring unease among other governments over its strategic intentions. They welcome the investment but worry Beijing also is trying to expand its political influence and undermine theirs.

CHINA A moderate, shallow earthquake killed eight people and injured more than 20 others in remote Xinjiang region. Most houses in the area are wood and mudbrick or rock and more than 180 collapsed.

NORTH KOREA will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jung Un last month with a biochemical poison.

MYANMAR Uber is launching its private ride-hailing service in Yangon to tap into one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing online markets. The launch follows Singapore-based GrabTaxi’s debut, which began a trial run about six weeks ago.

GUAM Troops from the U.S., Japan and two European nations are gathering on remote U.S. islands in the Pacific for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea. The drills around Guam and Tinian may also send a message to North Korea.

INDIA A building wall collapsed onto guests at a wedding in western India, killing at 24 and injuring 28. Hundreds of guests were assembling on the outdoor lawn when a strong dust storm blew into the area, forcing people to go indoors. When the 80-foot-long wall fell, it trapped people inside the wedding hall and a covered shed built along the wall outside.

USA While the firing of FBI Director James Comey emerges as a potential distraction from the GOP’s legislative agenda, the Senate intelligence committee subpoenaed former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn for documents related to the panel’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling.

PORTUGAL The parents of a Brazilian boy whose recovery from a severe brain injury is being cited by the Vatican as the “miracle” needed to canonize two Portuguese children are breaking their silence to share the story. The boy’s father says his then-5-year-old son, Lucas, fell 6.5 meters from a window in 2013 and sustained head injuries that doctors predicted he had little chance of surviving.