World briefs

CHINA accused the US of using bullying tactics and blackmail in threatening to impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports, ramping up criticism that the measures levied in the name of balancing trade would harm both countries’ companies and the world economy. 

N. KOREA-US A majority of Americans now approve Donald Trump’s handling of U.S. relations with N. Korea, a change that comes after his summit with that country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. But most don’t believe Kim is serious about addressing the international concerns about his country’s nuclear weapons program.

MYANMAR A social media account run by the office of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi quotes her as saying that “hate narratives from outside the country” have fueled tensions between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine communities in the country’s west.

INDONESIA’s military chief said yesterday that specialist navy equipment will be deployed to pinpoint a ferry that sank in the crater lake of an ancient supervolcano, offering a glimmer of hope to distraught relatives that the bodies of more than 180 people presumed drowned will be recovered. 

INDIA Some 50,000 people gathered with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday in the Himalayan foothills. Modi traveled to the hill town of Dehradun for the fourth International Day of Yoga, and shortly after sunrise was doing yoga exercises with about 50,000 people.

GAZA STRIP Condoms have moved out of the bedroom and into the air in the Gaza Strip, where they’ve become the newest weapon against Israel. Sometimes tied together for added buoyancy, the inflated prophylactics are attached to gas-soaked rags, other burning items or explosive devices, then flown over the border like balloons into southern Israel, where they set fire to farmlands and nature reserves.

ITALY’s hard-line interior minister has said he will not allow a Dutch-flagged boat that rescued some 200 migrants to land in Italy. Salvini said that he had contacted the Dutch ambassador about the ship’s activities, adding “they will only see Italy on the map.”

SPAIN Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa is under observation at a Madrid hospital after sustaining light injuries in a fall at home. The Spanish capital’s Hospital Ruber Juan Bravo says it admitted the 82-year-old Peruvian writer yesterday with a bruised left buttock and a slight head injury.