World briefs

PHILIPPINES-RUSSIA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte left yesterday for a four-day official visit to Russia, where he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In his departure speech, Duterte said the visit underscores his independent foreign policy and desire to forge closer ties with Russia, which “must cease to be on the margins of Philippine diplomacy.” 

THAILAND A bomb exploded at an army-run hospital in Bangkok yesterday, on the third anniversary of a military coup, and authorities said more than 20 people were wounded. It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion.

INDONESIA Police detained dozens of men including several foreigners in a weekend raid on a gay sauna in the capital, another sign of growing hostility to homosexuality in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

SOUTH KOREA Handcuffed, her inmate number 503 attached to her clothing, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye begins her corruption trial today in the same courtroom where a brutal dictator was sentenced to death two decades ago.

INDIA-PAKISTAN A two-day gun battle left four insurgents and three Indian soldiers dead close to a cease-fire line dividing troubled Kashmir between longtime rivals India and Pakistan, India’s army said.

IRAN’s newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani yesterday called relations with the United States “a curvy road,” and also criticized Saudi Arabia after it hosted President Donald Trump, saying that the kingdom “has never seen a ballot box” while Iran just hosted a successful presidential election. 

TURKEY summoned the U.S. ambassador yesterday to protest what it called “aggressive and unprofessional actions” by American security personnel against Turkish bodyguards in Washington during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit last week.

YEMEN Protesters linked to anti-government Shiite rebels pelted the motorcade of the U.N. envoy to Yemen with rocks, shoes and eggs in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The war in Yemen  has killed more than 10,000 civilians and led to the displacement of some 3 million.

GERMANY A Syrian man has gone on trial in Germany for allegedly leading a militia in Syria that was responsible for torture and killings. The dpa news agency reported yesterday that the 42-year-old man faces possible life imprisonment if convicted in Duesseldorf state court.

BRAZIL Embattled Brazilian President Michel Temer said in an interview published yesterday that he will only leave office if forced out, despite facing growing calls to resign over a corruption scandal.