World briefs

NORTH KOREA In a show of American military might to North Korea, U.S. bombers and fighter escorts flew on Saturday to the farthest point north of the border between North and South Korea by any such American aircraft this century. The Pentagon said the mission in international airspace showed how seriously President Donald Trump takes North Korea’s “reckless behavior.”

VIETNAM-PHILIPPINES Two fishermen were found dead and five others were taken into custody after they were spotted fishing off the northwestern Philippines, sparking a night chase where a Vietnamese boat hit a Philippine navy ship and prompted its crew to fire shots.

PHILIPPINES President Rodrigo Duterte says he became a local millionaire at a young age due to inheritance and reiterated he has no unexplained wealth as alleged by his leading critic, who questioned his claim that he was born into an impoverished family.

INDONESIA More than 35,000 people have fled a menacing volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, fearing it will erupt for the first time in more than half a century as increasing tremors rattle the region. 

SINGAPORE has overtaken nations including the U.S., Russia and China as the country launching the most cyber attacks globally, according to an Israeli data security firm. 

INDIA-PAKISTAN Pakistan says Indian troops have fired across the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region, killing a young girl and wounding two other people.

IRAQ’s Kurdish region’s controversial vote on independence will go ahead as planned today. The region’s president said that while the vote will be the first step in a long process to negotiate independence, the region’s “partnership” with the Iraqi central government in Baghdad is over.

GERMANY Exit polls suggest Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc has finished first in Germany’s election, putting her in a position to lead the country for a fourth term.

MEXICO Hour after excruciating hour, Mexicans were transfixed by dramatic efforts to reach a young girl thought buried in the rubble of a school destroyed by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. But she never existed, Mexican navy officials now say. “We want to emphasize that we have no knowledge about the report that emerged with the name of a girl.”

COLOMBIA The United Nations has finished deactivating thousands of weapons and munitions that once belonged to demobilized leftist rebels in Colombia.