World Briefs

China Members of the Uighur Muslim ethnic group held demonstrations in cities around the world to protest a sweeping Chinese surveillance and security campaign that has sent thousands of their people into detention and political indoctrination centers.

Vietnam Phan Van Khai, an architect of Vietnam’s economic rise and the country’s first prime minister to visit the United States after the end of the war, died on Saturday. He was 84.

Indonesia’s normally bustling Bali has shut down social media, closed the airport and shuttered all shops for a Day of Silence that marks New Year on the predominantly Hindu resort island. 

Philippines A small passenger plane carrying five people crashed into a house shortly after takeoff north of Manila on Saturday, killing all those onboard and five people on the ground, officials said.

N. Korea Sweden’s foreign minister held what she called “good and constructive” talks with her North Korean counterpart amid growing speculation about a possible meeting in the Scandinavian country between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Russia’s presidential election was tainted by unprecedented pressure on voters to turn out and incidents of suspected ballot box stuffing — a barely democratic exercise that will grant Vladimir Putin another six years of power.

Turkey-Syria Turkey’s president said yesterday the Turkish military and allied Syrian forces (pictured) have taken “total” control of the town center of Afrin, the target of a nearly two-month-old offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia, which said fighting was still underway.

Germany-Poland Germany’s new foreign minister stressed the need for preserving European unity during his visit to Poland, a recalcitrant European Union member that has been following its own path on some issues.

Switzerland Authorities say they’ve recovered the bodies of two French skiers killed in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps but two other skiers remain missing.

Brazil Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has launched a book in which he says he is “ready” to go to jail and serve a 12-year and one-month sentence on a corruption charge conviction.

Venezuela The head of the Organization of American States wants tougher international sanctions placed on Venezuela. Sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, among others, are aimed at breaking Maduro’s grip on power amid a deepening political and economic crisis.