World briefs

MALDIVES The political crisis in the Maldives deepened yesterday, as the president of the island nation said the Supreme Court had overstepped its authority in ordering the release of a group of imprisoned opposition leaders. The government has declared a state of emergency for 15 days.

VIETNAM A court in Vietnam gave a second life prison sentence yesterday to a former executive at Vietnam’s state oil giant accused of corruption and who Germany said was kidnapped from there by Vietnamese agents last year.

INDONESIA Paramilitary police fatally shot a woman in what they said was a clash with stone-throwing villagers in the troubled Papua region, but a relative of the victim disputed their account of events.

PAKISTAN‘s prime minister has pledged his government’s continued support for the struggle of the people of Kashmir.

IRAQ American troops have started to draw down from Iraq following Baghdad’s declaration of victory over the Islamic State group last year, according to Western contractors at a U.S.-led coalition base in Iraq.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli man to death at a bus stop near a West Bank settlement yesterday before fleeing the scene, Israeli officials said.

TURKEY says it has detained 573 people for criticizing its offensive in northern Syria since the operation began earlier this month.

FRANCE‘s national weather agency Meteo France said yesterday about half the country is on alert for dangerous levels of snow and ice. Meanwhile, the French Alps and Pyrenees are under a lower-level alert for avalanches.

COSTA RICA Two candidates with the same last name and opposing stances on gay marriage, an issue that came to dominate Costa Rica’s presidential campaign, led election returns and appear headed to a runoff to decide who will be the Central American nation’s next leader.

US-VENEZUELA Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the U.S. is still considering restricting the sale of oil from crisis-torn Venezuela.

ECUADOR Citizens voted by a landslide to limit presidents to two terms in a nationwide referendum that delivered a blow to former President Rafael Correa’s hopes of returning to power.