World briefs

JAPAN A defense official said yesterday that Japan is seeking to increase its sales of military equipment to Southeast Asian nations amid growing tensions with China and North Korea. The move is part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to bolster Japan’s military role and its sales of defense equipment, especially in Southeast Asia, where China has expanded its own arms sales. 

SINGAPORE Police detained a preschool assistant who shared pro-Islamic State group materials online and intended to travel to Syria, their first arrest of a female Singaporean citizen alleged to be a sympathizer of the radical group.

PHILIPPINES Filipinos marked their country’s Independence Day by raising the national flag yesterday in a southern city where troops pressed assaults to quell a three-week siege by Islamic State group-aligned militants that has left 270 combatants and civilians dead.

INDONESIA A strong earthquake yesterday morning rattled part of Indonesia’s main island of Java and swayed buildings in the capital, but caused no apparent damage or casualties.

NEPAL Confessed French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who is serving a life sentence in Nepal, had successful heart surgery yesterday, doctors said. The Frenchman is believed to have murdered at least 20 people in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong during the 1970s.

YEMEN A multinational coalition of navies says it will step up patrols in waters around Yemen after several attacks there, including those launched by Somali pirates and others blamed on Yemeni rebel forces.

RUSSIA Thousands of anti-government activists challenging President Vladimir Putin’s rule were protesting across Russia yesterday, with police arresting main opposition leader Alexei Navalny outside his Moscow home before he could reach the main demonstration and scores of others.

POLAND Polish officials are hailing an upcoming visit by Donald Trump, with Poland’s defense minister calling it a “huge success” for the government and another official celebrating the unexpectedness of a U.S. president stopping in Warsaw before Paris, London or Berlin.

BRITAIN Senior members of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government rallied to her defense yesterday amid doubts over her ability to remain in power following a disastrous election result. More on p15

BRAZIL A fugitive Italian crime clan boss was taken into custody at a Brazil airport over the weekend, authorities said. Vincenzo Macri was part of an international criminal organization that imported and trafficked drugs from Morocco, the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic.