World briefs

BRITAIN raised its threat level from terrorism to “critical” amid concerns that Salman Abedi may have accomplices who are planning another deadly attack. Police said three suspects were arrested yesterday in south Manchester. Another suspect was arrested Tuesday and Abedi’s father confirmed to The Associated Press that was Salman’s older brother Ismail. 

KOREA South Korea’s military said an unidentified object that flew across the border from rival North Korea and prompted the South to respond with warning shots on Tuesday was probably a balloon carrying Pyongyang’s propaganda leaflets.

AUSTRALIA’s Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday that an Australian citizen kidnapped in Yemen last year has been released following assistance by the sultanate of Oman. The man was not named in an issued statement and it was not immediately known whether a ransom had been paid.

INDIA Police rushed forces to a north Indian town yesterday and arrested dozens of people to stop clashes that erupted when upper caste Hindus fired on Dalits belonging to the lowest rung of India’s caste hierarchy.

PAKISTAN A police spokesman says gunmen have abducted a Chinese couple who were teaching at a private language school in the country’s southwest. Shahzada Farhat says the incident took place yesterday when assailants ambushed the Chinese couple’s car in southwestern Baluchistan. He says no one has claimed responsibility and the motive behind the abduction is unclear.

NATO is not only rolling out the red carpet for President Donald Trump in Brussels today, the military alliance — which Trump once declared obsolete — has been busy repackaging its image and is ready to unveil a new headquarters worth more than 1 billion euros. NATO leaders will agree to join the 68-nation international coalition fighting IS, after Germany and France were no longer raising any objections.

SPAIN Former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and his wife have been detained in connection with his businesses in Brazil, Spanish authorities said. The detentions were part of a money-laundering investigation related to buying television rights for past matches of Brazil’s national team.

VENEZUELA Electoral officials in Venezuela are scheduling long-delayed regional elections for December, amid months of protests in the country. Under the terms proposed by Maduro, a third of the assembly’s 540 members will be reserved for representatives selected by special constituencies and organizations such as workers and retirees.

BRAZIL Thousands of protesters called for Brazilian President Michel Temer’s ouster yesterday as he lost yet another key adviser amid a deepening political crisis.