World briefs
SINGAPORE home sales fell 21 percent in June from the previous month as fewer new projects were launched in the city-state. Developers sold 820 units last month, compared with a revised 1,039 in May.
INDONESIA’s anti-graft agency announced yesterday that the speaker of Parliament is a suspect in a corruption scandal in which officials allegedly pocketed more than USD170 million in government money. Anti-corruption police allege that a network of about 80 people, mostly legislators, and several companies stole funds from the introduction of a $440 million electronic identity card system in 2011 and 2012.
PHILIPPINES The largest Muslim rebel group said yesterday a peace accord it’s trying to implement with the government is “the best antidote” for violent extremism exemplified by a bloody siege of southern Marawi city by Islamic State group-aligned militants.
SOUTH KOREA yesterday offered talks with North Korea to ease animosities along their tense border and resume reunions of families separated by their war in the 1950s. More on p13
INDIA Lawmakers voted yesterday to choose India’s next president. The likely winner, Ram Nath Kovind, 71, is the former governor of the eastern state of Bihar and a longtime associate of a Hindu group that has long been accused of stoking religious hatred against Muslims. More on p12
QATAR France’s foreign minister on Saturday called on Qatar’s neighbors to immediately lift measures impacting thousands of people in the Gulf.
SOMALIA’s internet has returned after an outage of more than three weeks cost the Horn of Africa nation about USD10 million a day, authorities said yesterday.
SOUTH AFRICA is objecting to suggestions that it is promoting an international trade in the horns of rhinos, which have been heavily targeted by poachers.
EU The European Union is allowing members to restrict sales of inflatable boats and outboard motors to Libya. Member states can ban such export or supply “where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they will be used by people smugglers and human traffickers.”
ITALY Authorities have evacuated two campgrounds in Tuscany as wildfires cause disruption across central and southern Italy.
VENEZUELA Foes of President Nicolas Maduro said more than 7 million Venezuelans cast symbolic votes rejecting his plan to retool the constitution in a strong but not overwhelming showing that left the opposition facing tough choices two weeks before the socialist leader seeks to reshape the political system.
