World briefs

VIETNAM A Vietnamese court began a major corruption trial yesterday of 22 defendants, including a former senior Vietnamese Communist Party official and a top oil executive the government is accused of snatching from Germany.

CAMBODIA An appeals court yesterday upheld the prison sentence of an Australian woman convicted of providing commercial surrogacy services in Cambodia.

THAILAND’s prime minister evaded journalists’ questions yesterday by bringing out a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself and telling the reporters to quiz it instead of him. “If you want to ask any questions on politics or conflict,” he said, “ask this guy.”

JAPAN A U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing yesterday in Japan’s Okinawa islands, the second such incident in three days.

IRAN’s foreign minister yesterday warned neighboring countries over fomenting insecurity in Iran in a reference to anti-government protests that have roiled the country over the past two weeks. 

SYRIA Government forces captured 14 villages yesterday as they advance on the largest rebel-held enclave in the country’s north amid a wave of airstrikes.

ROMANIA’s prime minister will push for a government reshuffle, amid tensions between himself and the powerful party leader who is facing corruption charges.

GREECE’s prime minister says a full return to markets in 2018 remains an “important target,” with the country’s bailout funding formally ending in August.

GERMANY The leader of Germany’s center-left Social Democrats says he hopes talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives on a new government will produce results that make the country “the motor of European policy.”

US-EL SALVADOR The Trump administration is ending special protections for Salvadoran immigrants, forcing nearly 200,000 to leave the country or face deportation.