World briefs

SOUTH CHINA SEA Australia’s prime minister said his country has a “perfect right” to traverse the South China Sea after a media report said that the Chinese navy challenged three Australian warships in the hotly contested waterway. China’s Defense Ministry defended its navy’s actions, saying the report “does not conform with the facts.”

MALAYSIA Police said yesterday that an investigation was underway into the gunning down of a Palestinian man a day earlier and gave assurances that security was being beefed up in the country following recent high-profile assassinations.

INDIA Government forces killed at least 14 Maoist rebels during a raid on their hideout yesterday in a forested area in western India, police said.

IRAN Police have arrested a former prosecutor known as the “torturer of Tehran,” who faces a two-year prison sentence over the death of prisoners following 2009 protests, Iranian media reported yesterday.

TURKEY More than a dozen Turkish opposition lawmakers switched parties yesterday in a show of solidarity as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rivals scramble to challenge him in a surprise snap election that could solidify his rule.

ARMENIA The leader of major political protests that have gripped the Armenian capital for more than a week was arrested yesterday, while the streets of Yerevan echoed with blaring car horns as protesters tried a new technique for expressing opposition.

GERMANY’s center-left Social Democrats yesterday elected a combative new leader to spearhead their recovery from a disastrous election result while guiding them through a fractious coalition government with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives.

US-LIBERIA A Liberian man convicted of lying about his past as a rebel commander accused of brutal attacks and killings so he could enter the U.S. has been sentenced to 30 years in U.S. federal prison.

NICARAGUA Pope Francis has expressed deep worry over deadly violence in Nicaragua fueled by protests and he’s pressing for a peaceful solution. Human rights advocates say that since April 18 at least 26 people have been killed in unrest over social security reforms planned by the government. 

BRAZIL Police in Brazil will recreate the scene of last month’s murder of a Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman and her driver in an effort to track down their assailants.