World briefs

US-CHINA Vice President Mike Pence accused China yesterday of trying to undermine President Donald Trump as the administration deploys tough new rhetoric over Chinese trade, economic and foreign policies.

INDIA-RUSSIA Vladimir Putin arrived in India for a two-day visit during which India is expected to sign a USD5 billion deal to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems despite a new U.S. law ordering sanctions on any country trading with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors.

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte says he might have cancer as he awaits the result of recent medical tests. Duterte, 73, said in the speech to a military academy alumni group: “I don’t know where I’m now physically but I have to wait for that. But I would tell you if it’s cancer, it’s cancer.”

MALDIVES A opposition leader returned home yesterday after being exiled in Germany for months to escape a prison sentence on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.

NEW ZEALAND Visitors to the country can be fined 5,000 New Zealand dollars for refusing to provide passwords to unlock electronic devices and allow customs officials to examine them under a new law that a civil liberties group condemned as a grave invasion of privacy. 

JAPANESE fisheries officials said  they will revise one of the country’s two main research whaling programs after an international organization said selling meat from killed sei whales violates a convention protecting endangered species.

VIETNAM’s ruling Communist Party has nominated its general secretary for the additional post of president, succeeding President Tran Dai Quang, who died last month, and ending a decades-long policy of separating top leadership positions.

BRAZIL The top leftist candidate for Brazil’s presidency accused front-runner Jairo Bolsonaro of spreading falsehoods about him and his family on social media, as new polls showed the far-right candidate’s lead widening with days before the vote.

IRAN’s supreme leader says the Islamic Republic will “slap” the United States by defeating new American sanctions targeting the nation. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comments yesterday in a speech in Tehran.

TURKEY Kurdish rebels detonated an explosive device on a road in southeast Turkey, killing at least seven soldiers. Two other soldiers were wounded in yesterday’s attack.