World Briefs

NEW ZEALAND announced yesterday that it plans to significantly boost the amount of aid money it spends in the South Pacific, as China’s influence in the region grows

CAMBODIA The new owner of a newspaper considered the sole remaining independent media voice in Cambodia fired its editor for publishing a story about the publication’s sale and the purchaser’s alleged links to the government. 

INDIA An Indian tourist was killed during a stone-throwing protest in Kashmir, officials said yesterday, as the disputed region shut down for a third day over the killings of civilians and rebels during weekend gunbattles and anti-India protests.

THE NILE Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have failed again to make progress on their Nile dispute as Ethiopia works to complete a massive upstream dam, an Egyptian official said yesterday.

SYRIA The first convoy of buses carrying opposition fighters and civilians from a rebel enclave in central Syria have reached a region controlled by Turkish troops and are awaiting permission to enter, a Syrian war monitoring group said.

ARMENIA The man who spearheaded weeks of protests in Armenia was chosen yesterday to be the country’s new prime minister, and carries the weight of high hopes for a turnaround in the impoverished former Soviet republic. 

GREECE Five members of international aid groups from Spain and Denmark have been cleared in court on charges of attempting to illegally bring migrants into Greece.

GERMANY Journalists walked out of a news conference in Germany after the nationalist Alternative for Germany party decided to refuse questions from a prominent reporter. The reporter had previously asked the party’s caucus leader, Andreas Kalbitz, about his ties to a banned far-right group.

BRAZIL’s first black Supreme Court justice says he won’t run for president, quashing widespread speculation. Joaquim Barbosa announced his decision on Twitter yesterday, calling it “strictly personal.”

US-VENEZUELA The United States has asked the countries of the Western Hemisphere to suspend Venezuela from the 35-nation Organization of American States. Vice President Mike Pence also urged member states to cut off Venezuelan leaders from their financial systems and to enact visa restrictions.