World Briefs

Japan-Korea Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) met with South Korea’s intelligence chief yesterday, and said that while he welcomes any dialogue with North Korea regarding the country’s denuclearization, the North must take real steps toward that goal.

Myanmar’s government yesterday rejected two reports presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council that concluded it committed extreme human rights violations, probably amounting to crimes under international law, in its repression of several minority groups.

Philippines Two militants, one Filipino and the other Malaysian, who survived the crushing of a siege of a southern Philippine city last year are among the leading candidates to succeed a slain Islamic State group regional leader as the rebels attempt to recover from setbacks.

Thailand’s cabinet agreed yesterday to draft a law to oversee cryptocurrency trading, seeking to tax the largely unregulated market.

Nepal’s president, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, was elected to a second term in voting yesterday by national and provincial lawmakers. The Election Commission said Bhandari received a large majority of the ballots.

South Africa The Nelson Mandela Foundation is preparing events and other initiatives this year to mark the centenary of the birth of the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa’s first black president.

Spain The European Court of Human Rights has sided with two Spaniards who set fire in public to a photograph of Spain’s king and queen, saying their protest amounted to freedom of expression.

EU-Britain The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator (pictured) warned Britain yesterday against undercutting EU rules and regulations that underpin anything from social protections to food security when it leaves the bloc.

Syria Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters have begun a siege of the Syrian Kurdish-held town of Afrin, the Turkish military said yesterday, marking a significant advance in Ankara’s seven-week operation that also almost fully encircles hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Argentina A group of American scientists who were stranded in an ice-bound island off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula has been rescued by an Argentine icebreaker.

Mexico Prosecutors say they have arrested a man who allegedly played a decisive role in the disappearance of 43 college students in 2014. The Attorney General’s Office says the suspect probably belonged to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel.