World briefs

SYRIA Demonstrators poured into the streets of Damascus on Saturday, dancing and chanting in defiance of what they called the West’s “failure” to shake their nation’s resolve with airstrikes that jolted the capital only hours earlier. 

US President Donald Trump unleashed a torrent of rage against James Comey yesterday over the former FBI director’s forthcoming book, calling him “slippery,” insisting he never asked him for loyalty and labelling him “the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!”

NORTH KOREA leader Kim Jong Un has met with a high-ranking Chinese diplomat in Pyongyang, amid a flurry of diplomacy following Kim’s recent surprise visit to Beijing.

INDIA Thousands of people protested across the country to seek an end to sexual violence against women, which has been on the rise in the country. Carrying banners and placards, protesters marched in New Delhi, Mumbai and other cities, demanding that India’s government quickly prosecute rape suspects. Candlelight vigils were also held in some places.

MYANMAR has accepted what appears to be the first five among some 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape military-led violence against the minority group, even though the United Nations says it’s not yet safe for them to return home.

SPAIN Tens of thousands of Catalan separatists rallied in downtown Barcelona yesterday to demand the release of high-profile secessionist leaders being held in pre-trial detention.

FRENCH authorities say 63 people have been arrested and nine police officers injured as protests took place in two cities amid simmering anger at President Emmanuel Macron’s labor law changes.

GUINEA-BISSAU’s president agreed with a rival faction of his party on a prime ministerial candidate as regional African leaders intervened to help end a political crisis of almost three years in one of the world’s poorest countries.

BRAZIL The first poll since the country’s former president was arrested showed environmentalist Marina Silva technically tied as a leading candidate in the next election with Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing accusations of racism and inciting hatred.