World briefs
VENEZUELA Ruling party chief Diosdado Cabello said Venezuelan troops quashed a “terrorist” attack at a military base yesterday, shortly after a small group of men dressed in fatigues released a video declaring themselves in rebellion. Military officials said seven people were detained.
ASEAN In a surprise move, Southeast Asia’s top diplomats have defied China’s steadfast stance and issued a joint communique that indirectly criticizes its land reclamations and military fortifications in the disputed South China Sea. Reportedly, Vietnam had pushed for stronger language despite opposition from many of the ministers, whose countries rely heavily on China for trade and investment.
MYANMAR The Myanmar government’s inquiry into violence in northern Rakhine state last year that forced tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh and led to U.N. accusations of crimes against humanity by the army has concluded that no such crimes happened.
RUSSIAN tourists are flocking to Montenegro despite warnings from Moscow against visiting its former ally and the latest NATO-member country.
PAKISTAN Scores of supporters have welcomed Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his arrival to the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad from a nearby hilltop resort. He was staying at the resort after last week’s dismissal from office by the Supreme Court for concealing family assets.
VIETNAM Rescuers have recovered 16 more bodies over the past three days, bringing the death toll from floods in four northern provinces to 23. Flash floods triggered by heavy rains last week also left 16 people missing and injured 21 others.
UAE Investigators said yesterday no mechanical issues affected an Emirates flight before it crash landed in Dubai and burst into flames last year, as their probe continues to look at “human performance factors” around the incident.
SYRIA Pro-government forces captured the Islamic State group’s last stronghold in the energy-rich Homs province in central Syria yesterday, paving the way to advance on the besieged eastern city of Deir el-Zour, state media and a war monitoring group reported.
FRANCE A young French man who recently was discharged from a psychiatric hospital is under investigation for glorifying terrorism after he brandished a knife and tried to breach security at the Eiffel Tower, authorities said yesterday.
