World briefs

CHINA-THAILAND The Chinese foreign ministry has urged Thailand’s government to step up its efforts to rescue any survivors from the sinking of a tour boat off a southern island in the Southeast Asian nation.

PHILIPPINES Catholic bishops yesterday called for fasting and prayers after President Rodrigo Duterte called God “stupid” and questioned God’s existence in profane remarks that set the foul-mouthed leader on a collision course with Asia’s largest Catholic church.

MYANMAR A court yesterday formally charged two Reuters journalists accused of illegally possessing official information, allowing their case to go to a full trial.

INDIA’s highest court yesterday rejected the requests of three men to change their death sentences to imprisonment in the 2012 fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student in New Delhi.

JAPAN Rescuers in southwestern Japan dug up more bodies yesterday as they searched for dozens still missing after heavy rains caused severe flooding and left residents to return to their homes unsure where to start the cleanup. More than 100 people were confirmed dead in the disaster.

AFGHANISTAN U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used an unannounced trip to Afghanistan yesterday to step up the Trump administration’s calls for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

IRAQ’s election commission yesterday expanded its manual recount of ballots from May’s parliamentary elections, which were marred by allegations of fraud and irregularities.

ITALY European Commission officials say Italy’s request to modify the terms of a Mediterranean naval mission focused on disrupting human trafficking can be discussed during an ongoing strategic review.

BRITAIN Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a charismatic and divisive cheerleader for Britain’s exit from the European Union, resigned yesterday, adding to a crisis over Brexit that threatens to tear apart Prime Minister Theresa May’s government. 

BRAZIL The president of a Brazilian appeals court whose judges issued contradictory rulings Sunday on whether former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should be freed ordered late in the day that he remain jailed. More on p15

MEXICO Authorities in the capital are investigating the death of a U.S. tourist killed by what appeared to be a stray bullet in a shooting at a taco restaurant in a wealthy capital neighborhood.