World briefs

CAMBODIA Prime Minister Hun Sen has challenged his top political rival: take an oath to have lightning strike you dead if you falsely claim that last month’s general election was unfair.

SINGAPORE A cyberattack that breached 1.5 million health records in Singapore has been attributed to sophisticated attackers who may be state-linked, a Cabinet minister said yesterday. 

MALAYSIA Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that Indonesia has handed over a luxury yacht allegedly bought with money stolen from the multibillion-dollar looting of a state investment fund.

BANGLADESH A human rights group urged Bangladesh’s government yesterday to abandon plans to relocate Rohingya Muslim refugees to a small, uninhabited island said to be at severe risk of serious flooding.

US-IRAN President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday reimposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, saying the U.S. policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.

YEMEN A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States cut secret deals with al-Qaida fighters, paying some to leave key cities and towns and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment and wads of looted cash, an AP investigation found.

GREECE A eurozone rescue fund says it has paid its final 15 billion-euro (USD17.3 billion) bailout loan to Greece, after objections by Germany delayed the payment a few weeks.

ITALY A tanker truck carrying flammable material exploded yesterday on a highway overpass near the northern Italian city of Bologna, killing at least two people and injuring up to 70 as it partially collapsed the raised roadway, police said.

NICARAGUA A rights group that has documented killings during months of political unrest in this Central American nation says it is closing its offices due to threats and harassment targeting its staff.

VENEZUELA Investigators hunting for assailants behind a failed attempt to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro with explosives-laden drones have raided hotels and seized vehicles while grilling six suspects for details of the plot.

BRAZIL Far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro has picked an army reserve general to be his running mate for Brazil’s October elections.