World briefs

KOREA The North’s latest missile launches were short-range and landed well short of past efforts, but they still served as a defiant message for its enemies that Pyongyang will continue to pursue a weapons program that has rattled its neighbors and Washington. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a liberal who has expressed a desire to reach out to Pyongyang, said he “won’t back off even a single step and make any compromise” on the issue of national security.

CHINA-RUSSIA Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed close ties between the two nations during their meeting yesterday on the sidelines of a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an alliance dominated by Moscow and Beijing.

PHILIPPINES-INDONESIA Authorities from the two countries have arrested several people suspected of links to Islamic militants who overran a city in the southern Philippines and two others who allegedly helped inspire a double suicide bombing in Jakarta.

INDIA is now two and a half times more likely to experience a deadly heat wave than a half century ago, and all it took was an increase in the average temperature of just 0.5 degrees Celsius, a new study shows.

IRAN Five of the men who launched an attack in the heart of Iran’s capital previously fought for the Islamic State group, the government said yesterday, acknowledging the first such assault by the extremists in the Shiite powerhouse.

SUDAN says it will not take sides in the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf amid calls from Sudanese lawmakers to back Qatar, its oil-rich ally, against Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

POLAND The first ever tanker with liquefied natural gas from the United States arrived in Poland yesterday as part of the country’s — and the region’s — efforts to cut its dependence on Russia.

COLOMBIA FARC rebels in Colombia say that they have surrendered over 30 percent of their weapons to United Nations officials in the country, under the terms of last year’s peace agreement.

MEXICO-GUATEMALA The Mexican government has formally requested the extradition of a fugitive governor captured in April in Guatemala. Javier Duarte was arrested in a lakeside tourist town six months after resigning as governor of Veracruz. He faces embezzlement and organized crime charges in Mexico.