World briefs

SYRIA The Pentagon yesterday said it detected “active preparations” by Syria for a chemical weapons attack, giving weight to a White House statement hours earlier that the Syrian government would “pay a heavy price” if it carried out such an attack. President Bashar Assad’s government and Russia dismissed the White House allegation. 

THE PHILIPPINES has approved a bill decreeing that recitals of the country’s national anthem “must be done with fervor.” Violators of the new law can be issued with fines up to PHP100,000 (MOP16,000).

PAPUA NEW GUINEA voters are going to the polls in elections dominated by corruption allegations hanging over their prime minister and the South Pacific island nation’s deepening economic woes. Voting will continue until July 8 through a complex exercise safeguarded by police and soldiers, where allegations of corruption and violence often mar elections.

MONGOLIA will hold its first runoff election for president next month after none of the candidates attained the necessary majority in Monday’s voting. Democratic Party candidate and former wrestler Khaltmaa Battulga was the top finisher, with 38 percent of the vote. 

INDIA Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met his Dutch counterpart during a brief stop in the Netherlands, pledging to discuss closer links between the two countries.

IRAN’s president Hassan Rouhani has told the Qatari Emir that the “siege of Qatar is not acceptable for us,” according to the office of the presidency’s website.

TURKEY’s military says 10 Kurdish militants have been killed in aerial operation in southeast Turkey. Three soldiers meanwhile, died in an attack by suspected Kurdish insurgents.

ROMANIA Border police have found 91 migrants from Iraq and Syria hidden in a truck transporting auto parts. They told police they were trying to reach the visa-free Schengen travel zone. The driver told Romanian authorities he did not know about the migrants.

GERMANY A group of Berlin police officers helping with security ahead of next week’s Group of 20 summit in Hamburg has been sent home after some reportedly partied excessively at the barracks where they were staying.

BRAZIL In a scathing 64-page indictment, Brazil’s top prosecutor described a scheming, arrogant and corrupt President Michel Temer who lined his pockets with illegal money while showing little regard for the office he represented.