World Briefs

CHINA-INDIA Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting today and tomorrow with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a visit that some experts believe could reset a complicated relationship. 

INDONESIA The death toll from a fire at an unregulated oil well in Indonesia’s Aceh province rose to 22 yesterday, officials said.

PHILIPPINES An Australian nun whose missionary visa in the Philippines was revoked after the president complained about her joining opposition rallies said yesterday that social advocacy and human rights are part of church teachings.

IRAN-ISRAELIsrael’s defense minister said in an interview carried by an Arabic news site yesterday that his country will strike back if attacked by archenemy Iran.

SYRIA The International Committee of the Red Cross has been “flooded” with about 13,000 requests in the last six months from Syrians looking for missing family members.

TURKEY A Turkish court has convicted journalists and other senior staff members from the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper on terror charges, in a case that has exacerbated concerns over press freedom.

ITALY reported the first glimpse of progress on forming a possible government after inconclusive March 4 elections, with the latest round of exploratory talks between the populist 5-Star Movement and the center-left Democrats yielding a “positive outcome.”

SPAIN-VENEZUELA Spanish authorities acknowledged that a married couple with links to Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez has been arrested in a case of suspected corruption in their home country.

BRAZIL As many as 2,000 of Brazil’s indigenous people marched yesterday through the capital to protest what they say is an unprecedented governmental assault on their rights and lands.

MEXICO Prosecutors say they are investigating the identity of five men whose bodies were stuffed into a car in the resort city of Cancun.