World briefs

KOREA The United States and South Korea are laboring to keep the U.S. summit with North Korea on track even after President Donald Trump abruptly said “there’s a very substantial chance” it won’t go off as planned. 

PHILIPPINES The immigration bureau has turned down an Australian nun’s appeal for the reversal of an order revoking her missionary visa after the president complained about her joining opposition rallies and ordered her to leave the country.

THAILAND Police in the Thai capital blocked a march by pro-democracy activists protesting four years of military rule and detained several of the movement’s leaders.

INDIA-PAKISTAN Tensions soared yesterday along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, as rival soldiers shelled dozens of villages and border posts for a sixth straight day.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE The Israeli military says it has struck Hamas infrastructure in Gaza after a group of militants entered Israel and torched a military post.

CONGO The World Health Organization is accelerating its efforts with nine countries neighboring Congo to try to prevent the current Ebola outbreak from spreading beyond the border.

BELARUS has named a new ambassador to Sweden, turning the page on a six-year rift that followed a Swedish advertising agency’s air drop of teddy bears bearing messages about human rights.

BULGARIA has hit a setback to its hopes of soon becoming a member of the shared euro currency after the European Central Bank said the EU’s poorest country needs “wide-ranging” reforms to get its economy in shape.

FRANCE A burgeoning migrant camp in Paris, on a canal used by joggers and cyclists, is at the center of a tug-of-war over how best to respond to the unrelenting arrivals of migrants in the French capital — with humanity or with muscle.

SPAIN’s parliament is set to pass the national budget proposal for 2018, giving the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy some breathing space as it battles Catalan separatism.

HONDURAS A private jet traveling from Austin, Texas, crashed off the end of the runway of the Honduran capital’s international airport and broke in half, but the crew and passengers were rescued and reportedly out of danger.

US-VENEZUELA Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. will respond reciprocally to President Nicolas Maduro’s expulsion of the top American diplomat in Venezuela.