World briefs

CHINA-N.KOREA China’s foreign minister congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un yesterday on his moves to reduce tensions with South Korea, as a visit underscored Beijing’s desire to remain a key player in the Korean Peninsula peace process. 

MALAYSIA Opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad is under investigation for a potential breach of a new fake news law, less than a week before an election that has him vying with Prime Minister Najib Razak for the crucial votes of ethnic Malays. More on p12

IRAN’s foreign minister took to YouTube yesterday to criticize President Donald Trump’s threat to withdraw from the nuclear deal, saying Iran will not “renegotiate or add onto” the atomic accord.

INDIA A powerful dust storm and rain swept parts of north and western India overnight, causing house collapses, toppling trees and leaving at least 91 people dead and more than 160 injured. 

SAUDI ARABIA opened its second movie theater this week with tickets expected to go on sale to the public this weekend. The move comes two weeks after the country’s first movie theater opened.

ARMENIA After weeks of raucous protests, the streets of the Armenian capital suddenly calmed yesterday and the ruling party confirmed it would back an opposition leader to become prime minister next week.

GREECE About 500 people on the Greek island of Lesbos are protesting against a European Union migration policy.

GERMANY-SLOVAKIA German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Slovakia to solve the slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee that triggered a political crisis in the country.

SPAIN Basque separatist group ETA publicly declared its dissolution yesterday, bringing an end to a campaign against Spain that saw more than 850 people killed over more than four decades. But the Spanish government said it would continue to prosecute anyone with any links to any of the violence.

BRAZIL Local media in Brazil are reporting more than 30 people have been shot dead in the northern city of Belem since Sunday, when police officer Maria de Fatima dos Santos was gunned down.