World Briefs

SOUTH CHINA SEA The U.S. Navy will continue patrolling the disputed South China Sea, a top Navy official said yesterday, after a Chinese destroyer came dangerously close to an American Navy ship during a “freedom of navigation” sail-by near a Chinese-occupied reef. 

PHILIPPINES The President put the Bureau of Customs temporarily under military control after two large shipments of illegal drugs slipped past the agency through the port of Manila.

MYANMAR Genocide is still taking place against Rohingya Muslims remaining in Myanmar and the government is increasingly demonstrating it has no interest in establishing a fully functioning democracy, U.N. investigators say.

JAPAN’s Princess Ayako married a commoner in a ritual-filled ceremony yesterday at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine. The wedding took place in one of the pagoda-like buildings in the shrine complex and included an exchange of rings and a sharing of a cup of sake. 

ISRAEL-PALESTINE Israeli aircraft struck dozens of militant sites across the Gaza Strip early Saturday as militants fired some 30 rockets into Israel, in the heaviest exchange of fire between the bitter enemies in several weeks.

EGYPT-SUDAN Sudan has lifted a ban on agricultural imports from Egypt, the latest sign of mending relations between Cairo and Khartoum.

GERMANY Angela Merkel has confirmed that she plans to step down as leader of her conservative party after 18 years but says she will remain German chancellor for the rest of the current parliamentary term. 

SPAIN-VENEZUELA A Spanish court has given preliminary authorization for an aide of late President Hugo Chavez to be extradited to Venezuela. Claudia Diaz is being sought along with her husband Adrian Velasquez for alleged money laundering.

MEXICO Several thousand Central American migrants planned to resume their trek through southern Mexico before dawn yesterday, while authorities in that country and Guatemala tried to sort out the killing of a migrant at a border crossing.