World briefs

CAMBODIA’s Supreme Court denied a bail request yesterday for Kem Sokha, the leader of the now-dissolved main opposition party who has been detained for nearly a year without trial on a treason charge.

VIETNAM A court yesterday sentenced two Americans of Vietnamese descent to 14 years in jail after finding them guilty of attempting to overthrow the government.

INDONESIA has sunk 125 mostly foreign vessels involved in illegal fishing as it ramps up efforts to exert greater control over its vast maritime territory, an official said yesterday.

PAKISTAN’s newly-elected prime minister has offered to start a dialogue with India to resolve long-running disputes between the two nuclear-armed rivals, including over the Kashmir region.

IRAN says Britain has stepped in to help it redesign a reactor following the U.S. withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear agreement with world powers.

AFGHANISTAN Russia said Tuesday that the Taliban have accepted an invitation for talks next month, in what promises to be one of the insurgent group’s biggest diplomatic forays since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

POLAND President Andrzej Duda yesterday defended the moves his nation’s government have made to take control of the judicial system.

ITALY’s environmental minister has urged prosecutors to look at possible criminal responsibility and administrative lapses that may have contributed to the deaths of 10 people swept away by a flash flood as they hiked through a narrow gorge.

SPAIN Authorities say scores of migrants have stormed fences separating Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in a bid to enter Europe.

BRAZIL Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may be in jail, but he features in his party’s first ad ahead of October’s presidential election. And a new poll indicates he’s still leading the race.

VENEZUELA A strong aftershock jolted Venezuela’s northeastern coast on Wednesday following the most powerful earthquake to hit the area in more than a century, though officials said neither caused major damage or deaths, apparently due to their depth.

US Hawaii residents rushed to stores to stock up on bottled water, ramen, toilet paper and other supplies as they faced the threat of heavy rain, flash flooding and high surf as a strengthening hurricane continued to churn toward the state.