World briefs
CHINA-VIETNAM Foreign Minister Wang Yi canceled a scheduled one-on-one meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart in Manila at the last minute yesterday due to a spat over the South China Sea.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA A refugee being held in an Australian immigration camp on the Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea was found dead in an apparent suicide yesterday, sparking outrage from fellow refugees and advocates who say officials failed to treat him despite a long history of mental illness.
INDONESIA said yesterday that it will barter coffee, palm oil and other commodities for 11 Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets, calling U.S. and European sanctions against Russia an opportunity to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s trade. More on p13
PAKISTAN A government official says a gas explosion in a coalmine in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir has killed five miners and injured two after a part of the mine collapsed.
SYRIA Opposition activists say government warplanes have bombed a suburb of the capital Damascus where President Bashar Assad’s forces are fighting insurgents. Yesterday’s violence in eastern Damascus comes amid a truce in the area that went into effect last month.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE Jordan’s king flew by helicopter to the West Bank yesterday — a rare visit seen as a signal to Israel that he is closing ranks with the Palestinians on key issues, such as a contested Jerusalem shrine.
SOUTH SUDAN Government forces have overtaken the rebel-held stronghold and opposition headquarters of Pagak, along the Ethiopian border. The rebels burned their military barracks before fleeing, to prevent government forces from being able to use the ammunition, according to residents.
ITALY Police in Sicily say 15 firefighters are suspected of setting blazes that they were then called to extinguish. Police in Ragusa, Sicily, said yesterday the head of a firefighting squad was put under house arrest and the others under investigation. Auxiliary firefighters like them receive 10 euros per hour from the Italian government to fight fires.
BRAZIL Police say a family of British tourists who made a wrong turn while traveling in a car outside Rio de Janeiro was shot at and a woman was wounded.
