World briefs

QATAR Arab nations isolating Qatar extended a deadline yesterday for the energy rich country to respond to their demands by another 48 hours, allowing its top diplomat to carry a handwritten response to Kuwait’s ruler in an effort to end the diplomatic crisis. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain already have plans to meet in Cairo to discuss their next moves.

PHILIPPINES Military officials said yesterday that militants aligned with the Islamic State group who seized parts of a southern city forced hostages to loot millions in cash, firearms, ammunition, gold and jewelry from houses and business establishments. 

THAILAND Fearful that Thailand’s new labor rules will get them into trouble, tens of thousands of migrant workers are returning to neighboring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, causing hardship to themselves and their Thai employers.

JAPAN Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s scandal-laden ruling party scrambled yesterday to control damage from an embarrassing defeat in Tokyo municipal elections, but experts said the stunning result could mean the beginning of the end to Abe’s long reign. 

CHINA-RUSSIA Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Russia for talks focusing on expanding cooperation with Moscow just as tensions have flared up in U.S.-China ties. Moscow and Beijing will sign dozens of agreements to deepen their cooperation during Xi’s two-day trip.

SYRIA A top Syrian official says the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons refused to visit key sites linked to a nerve gas attack, casting doubt on the international monitor’s credibility.

GERMANY A bus carrying German senior citizens on vacation crashed into a truck yesterday on a highway in Bavaria and burst into flames, killing 18 people and injuring 30 others, some seriously, officials said. 

FRANCE President Emmanuel Macron has announced Europe-wide public conferences later this year in an effort to reinvigorate the European Union after Britain’s vote to leave. 

PORTUGAL Nine Portuguese firefighters were injured yesterday while tackling two wildfires near where 64 people died in a forest blaze last month, emergency services said.

BRAZIL Police say they have captured a major drug lord known as “White Head” who used plastic surgeries to help him evade authorities for nearly three decades. Authorities seized about USD10 million worth of the drug lord’s assets, including planes, properties and luxury cars.