World briefs

JAPAN’s lower house approved a bill allowing authorities to punish those found guilty of planning serious crimes, legislation that opponents say could be used to undermine basic civil liberties.

CHINA A disruptive passenger on a United Airlines flight from Shanghai to New Jersey was asked to get off the plane in a politically tinged altercation, resulting in an unscheduled stop in San Francisco.

CHINA A computer defeated China’s top player of the ancient board game go in the latest test of whether artificial intelligence can master one of the last games that machines have yet to dominate. AlphaGo beat Ke Jie, 19, by a half-point, the closest margin possible.

SOUTH CHINA SEA The United States has delivered six coastal patrol boats to Vietnam’s coast guard in a move that expands the two nation’s security cooperation amid tension in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, two vessels clash in the disputed waters. 

SOUTH KOREA Former President Park Geun-hye denied corruption charges at the start of a criminal trial that could potentially send South Korea’s first female leader to prison for life if she is convicted.  

INDONESIA Two men in Indonesia’s Aceh province were publicly caned dozens of times for consensual gay sex, a punishment that intensifies an anti-gay backlash in the world’s most populous Muslim country and which rights advocates denounced as “medieval torture.”

THAILAND The ruling junta said police will handle the investigation into a bombing at a military-run hospital that wounded more than 20 people, while security in the country is being reviewed.

AUSTRALIA A tearful Rebel Wilson testified that a series of magazine articles published in Australia was a deliberate attack on her character and damaged her acting career. Wilson is suing Australian publisher Bauer Media, which articles said Wilson had lied about her name, age and upbringing in Australia.

MIDDLE EAST President Donald Trump pushed for elusive peace between Israel and the Palestinians, calling on both sides to put aside the “pain and disagreements of the past.” Trump met with both Israeli Prime Minister and Palestinian Authority President during his quick stop in the region.

USA A Connecticut imam has been detained by immigration agents and faces deportation to Pakistan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Hafiz Abdul Hannan, the leader of the Masjid Al-Islam mosque in New Haven since 2013, was taken into custody at his home last week.

GERMANY’s defense minister says the country is committed to spending 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense in keeping with its pledge to NATO. Ursula von der Leyen [pictured, center] told reporters in Berlin yesterday that defense spending would be among the topics at a NATO meeting in Brussels later this week.