World briefs

CHINA’s defunct and reportedly out-of-control Tiangong 1 space station is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere sometime this weekend. Most of the bus-size, 8.5-ton vehicle is expected to burn up on re-entry, although space agencies don’t know exactly when or where that will happen. 

VIETNAM A court sentenced a former Communist Party Politburo member to 18 years in prison yesterday after finding him guilty of mismanagement at a state oil giant that cost millions of dollars. 

INDONESIA Prosecutors demanded 16 years in prison for a senior politician accused of playing a key role in the theft by officials of USD170 million of public money. 

THAILAND Six men were sentenced to death by a court in southern Thailand for the massacre of eight members of one family, including three children, over a land and loan dispute.

PAKISTAN The mere fact that Fazlur Rehman Khalil, veteran leader of an organization designated as a terror group by the U.S., is free has experts questioning Pakistan’s willingness to fight extremism.

SERBIA vowed to protect its ethnic kin in Kosovo after seeking Russia’s advice on how to respond to a spike in tensions, a move that risks escalating the East-West struggle for influence in the Balkans.

FRANCE Former President Nicolas Sarkozy (right) is being ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling.

IRELAND will hold a referendum May 25 on whether to lift a constitutional ban on most abortions. Voters will be asked whether they want to retain the eighth amendment to Ireland’s constitution, which greatly limits abortion, or repeal it.

VENEZUELA Relatives of 68 people killed in a fire at a Venezuelan police station jail waited yesterday for officials to turn over the remains of their loved ones, after having spent much of the previous day clamoring for information and clashing with police.