World briefs

US-RUSSIA President Donald Trump will learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first encounter with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Every aspect of the bilateral meeting between the two unpredictable leaders is sure to be closely scrutinized as investigations press on into alleged Moscow meddling in the 2016 election and potential Trump campaign collusion.

EAST TIMOR Gay rights have taken a step forward in East Timor with its first LGBT pride parade and the prime minister announcing that the young nation’s development depends on respecting the rights of all its citizens.

PHILIPPINES The Supreme Court upheld yesterday the president’s declaration of martial law in the south in a legal boost to a military offensive that the defense chief said may soon succeed in quelling an uprising by Islamic State group-linked militants.

MYANMAR A mob in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State has killed a member of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority who had been on a police-guarded trip to the city that many Rohingya were forced to flee five years ago.

BANGLADESH A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. has killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said yesterday. Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion.

SYRIA U.S.-backed Syrian forces have breached the wall around Raqqa’s Old City, the U.S. military said yesterday, marking a major advance in the weeks-old battle to drive Islamic State militants out of their self-declared capital. More on p15

ISRAEL-INDIA India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, yesterday kicked off a high-profile visit to Israel aimed at celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations and strengthening his country’s already warm ties with the Jewish state.

TURKEY appeared to toughen its stance in talks to reunify Cyprus by insisting yesterday that it won’t sign up to any deal involving the withdrawal of all its troops from the ethnically divided Mediterranean island nation.

TANZANIA A dispute over a planned hydropower dam in Tanzania’s Selous wildlife reserve pits the country’s president against conservationists who say the project could cause irreparable damage to the UNESCO World Heritage site.

VENEZUELA’s opposition said it will hold a symbolic referendum to give voters the opportunity to reject President Nicolas Maduro’s plans to rewrite the constitution.