World briefs

CHINA’s foreign minister says Beijing will hold a dialogue with Afghanistan and Pakistan to help improve relations between the two South Asian neighbors. Wang Yi said during a visit to Pakistan yesterday that foreign ministers from the three countries would discuss relations, with an emphasis on economic cooperation.

JAPAN has marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties with the Holy See with a performance of ancient traditional Noh theater in Rome. At the performance Saturday in Rome at the Palazzo della Cancelleria, a Renaissance architectural masterpiece housing Vatican tribunals, visitors were shown how to wear a Noh theater mask.

INDIA Four Indian tourists and three local residents died yesterday when a cable car came crashing down from a height of at least 30 meters in a tourist town in the Indian portion of Kashmir. 

ITALY The government is making USD5.8 billion of resources available to keep operative two banks that the European Central Bank last week had deemed “failing or about to fail,” sending them into insolvency procedures.

TURKISH police have prevented people from gathering in large numbers for LGBT pride in Istanbul as small groups continue to make ad hoc demonstrations despite a ban issued by the governor.

UK Six people, including three children, were injured after a car ran into pedestrians outside a Newcastle sports center where people were reportedly gathered to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Police said the incident was not believed to be terror-related.

ALBANIANS were voting yesterday in a general election that follows a landmark agreement between the country’s two biggest political parties to look past their bitter differences and back efforts for Albania to eventually join the European Union.