World briefs

BANGLADESH Heavy rain triggered landslides that killed at least 68 people in southeast Bangladesh, officials said yesterday. Rains that began early Monday had cleared by yesterday, allowing rescuers to work faster in searching for survivors. But the firefighters, police and soldiers deployed to help were having trouble reaching some affected areas, said a senior disaster management official. 

CAMBODIA An Australian woman charged with providing commercial surrogacy services in Cambodia said yesterday she launched her business only after consulting three local lawyers who assured her that her clinic was legal.

THAILAND Police said they have seized more than 1 million methamphetamine tablets this month, as trade in the illicit drug shows little sign of abating.

KOREA A suspected North Korean drone photographed a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea before it crashed near the border where it was found last week, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said yesterday.

IRAQ Food poisoning at a camp for displaced residents of Mosul killed at least two people and sickened over 700, Iraq’s health minister said yesterday. Some officials accused a Qatar-based charity of providing tainted food — a claim that could not be confirmed. 

ISRAEL-NEW ZEALAND Israel’s prime minister says the diplomatic crisis with New Zealand over a U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements is over. Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) said yesterday he spoke with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Bill English, and that Israel’s ambassador will now return to New Zealand.

KENYA An eight-story building has collapsed in a low-income area of Nairobi and 10 people are missing, witnesses and officials in Kenya said yesterday.

GREECE Authorities in Greece have declared a state of emergency on the island of Lesbos after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake left one woman dead and more than 800 people displaced.

GERMANY A police officer was shot in the head at a Munich subway station yesterday after a man grabbed a colleague’s service pistol and opened fire, also wounding two bystanders.

VENEZUELA’s Supreme Court has rejected the chief prosecutor’s motion to stop President Nicolas Maduro’s push to rewrite the constitution as the restive nation continued to be rocked by protests and a transit strike.

UNITED NATIONS The World Health Organization said yesterday that Bhutan and the Maldives have eliminated measles, becoming the first countries in their region to stop the highly contagious disease.