World briefs

SOUTH CHINA SEA Beijing says it is “firmly opposed” to a Pentagon report that highlighted China’s construction of military facilities on man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea and speculated that Beijing would likely build more bases overseas. The annual report made “irresponsible remarks on China’s national defense development […] in disregard of the facts,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. 

VIETNAM has agreed to give Czech citizens visa exemptions for up to 15 days to boost tourism between the two countries under an agreement reached in Hanoi yesterday.

INDONESIA Six Islamic militants accused by Indonesian police of plotting to fire a rocket at downtown Singapore from a nearby island were sentenced to prison yesterday on charges of harboring and training extremists. More on p14

JAPAN Five workers at a Japanese nuclear facility that handles plutonium have been exposed to high levels of radiation after a bag containing highly radioactive material apparently broke during an equipment inspection, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday.

BANGLADESH The European Union has slapped a new security screening requirement on imports from Bangladesh, a move that is likely to make it costlier for businesses in the South Asian country to sell products to EU nations.

ZIMBABWE president is angering some back home with his latest trip overseas, this time to a U.N. conference on oceans even though his country is a landlocked state. The 93-year-old leader Robert Mugabe has been criticized as a “non-resident president” for globe-trotting while the economy crumbles.

TURKEY’s parliament has begun debating legislation for increased military cooperation with Qatar in an apparent move to support the country amid its dispute with Saudi Arabia and other regional nations.

UKRAINE The government says at least one soldier was killed and seven others were injured in an apparent uptick in fighting in the country’s east. Fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has claimed some 10,000 lives and displaced over a million people since the conflict began in April 2014.

GREECE Colombian organized crime rings were behind a string of heists involving costly medical diagnostic equipment stolen from hospitals in Greece and another 11 European countries, Greek authorities said yesterday.

BRAZIL Judges on Brazil’s top electoral court argued yesterday whether to accept new evidence of alleged illegal campaign contributions that stem from a sweeping probe of graft in Latin America’s largest nation as they consider a case that could force President Michel Temer from office.