World briefs

INDONESIA At least 12 people were killed and a frantic rescue operation was underway yesterday off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi for dozens of passengers of a sinking passenger ferry run aground by its captain in a desperate bid to save lives.  

AUSTRALIA The most senior Roman Catholic cleric to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse was sentenced to 12 months in detention by a court yesterday.

INDIA At least five people were injured yesterday when part of a pedestrian bridge at a Mumbai train station collapsed during morning rush hour amid heavy rains, officials said, as authorities struggled to restore the busy station. Hours after the incident, a platform at another rail station in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, caught fire due to a short circuit, police said.

PAKISTAN Torrential monsoon rains lashed many cities and towns across Pakistan before dawn yesterday, flooding streets and killing six people, as authorities struggled to restore normalcy in rain-affected areas.

IRAN issued a new warning over Mideast oil supplies as the United Arab Emirates said yesterday it could increase its own production, the latest remarks to follow President Donald Trump’s demand for lower global energy prices.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE The Israeli military said yesterday it had uncovered a plot by Hamas militants to spy on soldiers by befriending them on social media and then luring them into downloading fake dating applications that gave Hamas access to their smartphones.

POLAND An aide to the Polish President says the Supreme Court’s chief justice has no choice but to retire even though she says her term runs until 2020 under the Constitution of Poland. The forced resignation of Supreme Court First President Malgorzata Gersdorf comes as a new law takes effect that lowers the mandatory retirement age for justices from 70 to 65, forcing more than a third out.

FRANCE Investigators believe a team of four or five loyal accomplices carried out the brazen prison helicopter escape of one of France’s most notorious criminals, Redoine Faid. 

MEXICO’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is at the country’s National Palace to meet with current President Enrique Pena Nieto about his transition to office in December.