World briefs

PHILIPPINES The government learned days in advance of a plan by militants aligned with the Islamic State group to lay siege to a southern city and staged an army raid on a militant hideout that prevented a bigger and deadlier attack, officials said. They said the assault forced the gunmen to prematurely start their attack aimed at occupying the Islamic city of more than 200,000 people.

INDONESIA Dozens of inmates escaped yesterday from an overcrowded prison in western Indonesia after floods caused a wall to collapse. The head of the provincial Law and Human Rights Ministry said at least 21 prisoners had been recaptured and about 30 others were still at large.

JAPAN Crown Prince Naruhito has pledged to devote himself to the role of emperor, like his father, when he assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne. “I will devote myself body and soul to every single duty,” Naruhito said.

AUSTRALIA The Australian government has reached a settlement of around 90 million Australian dollars (USD68 million) with more than 1,900 asylum seekers who sued over their treatment at an immigration camp in Papua New Guinea, a minister and lawyers said yesterday.

QATAR said yesterday it has pulled all of its troops from the border of Djibouti and Eritrea, east African nations that have a long-running territorial dispute which Doha had helped mediate.

LEBANON The Cabinet has approved a new elections law and referred it to parliament for ratification, paving the way for parliamentary elections postponed twice over the past year.

TURKEY A Turkish court has convicted a prominent lawmaker from the main opposition party of revealing state secrets and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

BRITAIN A deadly overnight fire raced through a 24-story apartment tower in London yesterday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 74 others, police said. The inferno lit up the night sky and spewed black smoke from the windows of the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, where more than 200 firefighters battled the blaze.

BRAZIL The former governor of Rio de Janeiro state has been sentenced to 14 years and two months in prison for corruption and money laundering.

GUATEMALA A magnitude 6.9 earthquake in western Guatemala near the border with Mexico caused moderate damage to homes, triggered some landslides across highways and injured at least one person.