World briefs

US-N. KOREA Three Americans detained in North Korea for more than a year are on their way back to the U.S. with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, ahead of the historic summit.

JAPAN China, Japan and South Korea warmed their chilly relations yesterday, brought together by a common goal: ending North Korea’s nuclear program.

SOUTH CHINA SEA
Vietnam has requested that China withdraw its military equipment from South China Sea outposts, saying its deployment seriously violates Hanoi’s sovereignty, increases tension and destabilizes the region.

PHILIPPINES The embattled Philippine chief justice returned to office yesterday after taking two months of leave amid efforts by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration to oust her from the Supreme Court.

MYANMAR Four human rights groups urged the U.N. Security Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

INDIA A homemade bomb exploded yesterday in India’s remote northeast, killing two paramilitary soldiers and wounding two civilians, police said.

ISRAEL-RUSSIA Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) traveled to Moscow yesterday to meet with President Vladimir Putin and discuss military coordination amid new strikes in Syria blamed on Israel.

TURKEY’s state-run news agency says prosecutors are seeking life in prison terms for more than 200 people, including former generals, who are accused of being the ringleaders of the 2016 failed military coup.

BRITAIN-GREECE Britain’s Prince Charles embarked yesterday on an official visit to Greece, the birthplace of his father and kingdom of his paternal great-grandfather.

SPAIN The government has moved to block plans by Catalan separatists to re-elect in absentia the former regional president Carles Puigdemont, who is battling extradition from Germany to Spain.

ARGENTINA President Mauricio Macri said that Argentina has begun talks on a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund following a sharp devaluation of its currency and amid a difficult “global scenario.”

US-VENEZUELA The Trump administration has called for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. “For the safety and security of all the peoples of Latin America, it is time for Maduro to go,” the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said.