World briefs

PHILIPPINES The Congress voted overwhelmingly yesterday to approve President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law in the south by a year after the military warned that terrorist threats continue to lurk in the region.

INDONESIA A top politician accused of involvement in one of the country’s biggest corruption scandals told a court on the first day of his trial that he was suffering a stomach complaint, forcing a postponement while his medical condition was checked.

MYANMAR The Myanmar Press Council said yesterday that police have arrested two journalists working for an international news organization on suspicion of possessing “secret police documents” related to the ongoing refugee crisis in Rakhine state.

SAUDI ARABIA King Salman delivered a speech yesterday outlining his government’s priorities for the coming year, urging citizens to support economic reforms and the government’s anti-corruption drive.

YEMEN Russia says it has temporarily shut its embassy in Yemen and evacuated all of its diplomats. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that the ambassador and other diplomats will fulfill their duties from the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

ISRAEL Leaders of the Muslim world gathered at an extraordinary summit in Turkey yesterday to coordinate a “unified action” against President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

SOUTH AFRICA’s biggest corruption case since the end of apartheid has entangled not only the president and ruling party but also some major international companies, including U.S. firm McKinsey and KPMG.

GERMANY A military officer has been indicted on allegations he plotted to kill prominent political figures and blame the attack on refugees.

SWITZERLAND Police say a head-on collision between a car and a truck in Switzerland’s Gotthard Tunnel has left two people dead and forced the temporary closure of the tunnel, a key transit route through the Alps.

VENEZUELA’s democratic opposition and its political prisoners have received the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for human rights for fighting for freedom in the face of a repressive government.

USA San Francisco native London Breed has became the city’s acting mayor following the sudden death of Mayor Ed Lee, and is the first African-American woman to lead the city in the midst of a seemingly endless technology driven economic boom.