World briefs

MYANMAR President Win Myint has granted amnesty to more than 8,500 prisoners, including at least three dozen political prisoners. The amnesty was granted to 8,490 Myanmar citizens and 51 foreigners.

CHINA announced plans to allow full foreign ownership of automakers in five years, ending restrictions that helped to fuel its escalating dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump and strained relations with other trading partners.

JAPAN-US  The official visit of PM Shinzo Abe will begin today with a one-on-one meeting with Donald Trump followed by a small group discussion with top national security officials focused on the Kim summit. 

SYRIA International inspectors entered the Syrian town where an alleged chemical attack was carried out earlier this month, following delays by Syrian and Russian authorities.

UK The nerve agent used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was delivered in liquid form, British officials said, as they revealed it will take months to clean up the toxic trail the poison left around the city of Salisbury.

ARMENIA’s former president has been elected prime minister amid large-scale protests. The Armenian parliament voted overwhelmingly to confirm Serzh Sargsyan as the new prime minister.

MOROCCO A FIFA task force arrived in Morocco yesterday to inspect a World Cup bid that obscures one potential impediment to hosting the 2026 soccer showpiece: Homosexuality is a criminal offense in the north African country.

USA Inmates armed with homemade knives fought each other for about seven hours over territory and money, leaving at least 7 of them dead in the worst U.S. prison riot in a quarter-century.  At least 17 prisoners were injured at Lee Correctional Institution, South Carolina. 

USA A closely watched medicine made from the marijuana plant reduces seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy and warrants approval in the United States, health officials.