World briefs
US-N.KOREA President Donald Trump, in a combative debut speech to the U.N. General Assembly, threatened the “total destruction” of North Korea if it does not abandon its drive toward nuclear weapons. Trump said “it is far past time for the nations of the world to confront” Kim Jong Un and said that Kim’s “reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons” poses a threat to “the entire world with an unthinkable loss of human life.”
JAPAN Markets are suggesting that any snap election called by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would take advantage of his opponents’ weakness and see him retain power. Abe is expected to decide on the early ballot after returning from a trip to the U.S.
INDONESIA A mob opposed to public discussion of Indonesia’s 1965 massacre of communists tried to force its way into a Jakarta building where they believed communists were meeting, injuring five policemen.
PAKISTAN Police say an accidental explosion at a cement factory in the country’s south has killed at least five people.
IRAQ’s ethnically-mixed and contested city of Kirkuk was on a nighttime curfew yesterday after clashes erupted there the previous night between Kurds and Turkmen amid preparations for the controversial Kurdish independence referendum next week, a local Turkmen official said.
POLAND’s justice minister has called on the parents of a baby girl born last week to come forward and show that their infant is all right. In a widely debated case, Polish police are seeking the couple who fled a hospital in northwestern Poland with their newborn baby on Friday after a court limited their parental powers.
NORWAY’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest of its kind, has hit a milestone value of USD1 trillion, beating all expectations since its creation over 20 years ago.
NETHERLANDS The Dutch economy is forecast to grow by a robust 3.3 percent this year, the Dutch king said yesterday in a speech – written by the government – to open the parliamentary year. The speech contained no major policy announcements as the two-party government has been in caretaker mode since elections in March.
BRAZIL’s new attorney general has taken office amid questions about how aggressively she will pursue the country’s massive corruption probe.
US The Dallas Cowboys are the top-valued team in the world. According to Forbes magazine, their worth increased 14 percent in the last year, reaching USD4.8 billion.
