World briefs

IRAQ A key border crossing between Turkey and Iraq’s northern Kurdish region remained under the control of Kurdish officials despite reports of Iraqi troop movements on the Turkish side.

JAPAN Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to compile a 2 trillion yen (USD17.5 billion) package of policy measures in early December to tackle Japan’s aging and shrinking population, issues he called a national crisis during his recent election campaign.

THAILAND’s military government has emerged from the year of official mourning for King Bhumibol Adulyadej with a firm grip on power and in no apparent rush to hold elections it has repeatedly delayed during the four years since its coup.

PAKISTAN Police arrested a newly married woman on murder charges after she allegedly poisoned her husband’s milk and it inadvertently killed 17 other people in a remote village, a senior police officer said yesterday. Police questioned the woman for two weeks to determine whether it was her decision or her boyfriend had incited the murders.

RUSSIA-IRAN Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Iran yesterday for trilateral talks with Tehran and Azerbaijan. The talks are to focus on regional matters, as well as terrorism and security issues. The three countries all share the Caspian Sea and railway and road projects are expected to be discussed at their meeting as well.

YEMEN A suspected airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen killed at least 29 people, including children, in the country’s north, a Yemeni health official said yesterday.

MACEDONIA has fired its honorary consul in Barcelona, who has been charged with murdering his 3-year old twins in South Africa.

BRAZIL Thousands of drivers from Uber and cabbies faced off in Brazil’s capital Tuesday as the Senate voted to soften proposed new regulations that the ride-sharing app said would sink its business in its second-largest market worldwide.

HONDURAS An international team of lawyers said that the 2016 killing of Honduran environmental activist Berta Caceres was the product of a coordinated plot and suggested that leadership of a dam development company may have ordered her assassination.