AROUND THE GLOBE IN THREE MINUTES
USA PROTESTERS BOO TRUMP
A few hundred protesters lined up Thursday along Manhattan’s West Side Highway to jeer Donald Trump’s motorcade as he made his first trip home to New York since becoming president of the United States. Trump sped by just before 7 p.m. on his way to attend a dinner with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that is now a museum. The crowd booed and chanted “New York hates you!” over drums and tambourines. Some Trump supporters cheered him on. Protesters near the Intrepid held signs saying “Dump Trump.” Some passing cars honked in support. Some demonstrators yelled “shame!” at people appeared to be headed to a dinner held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, a World War II naval battle. / AP
VENEZUELA PROTEST DEATH TOLL RISES
Students battled tear gas-throwing police officers in demonstrations across Venezuela’s capital Thursday as a two-month-old protest movement that shows no signs of letting up claimed more lives. Soldiers bathed hundreds of protesters in tear gas at the Central University of Venezuela, with medics in gas masks attending to students with bloodied faces and limbs. Gunfire erupted at a student gathering in El Tigre, a city southeast of Caracas, leaving Juan Lopez, 33, dead and three others injured, according to the chief prosecutor’s office. Lopez was the president of a university federation. The student leader’s death brought to at least 37 the number killed in Venezuela’s ongoing political turmoil. More than 700 others have been wounded. Overall, more than 1,000 have been arrested. / AP
FRANCE OBAMA SUPPORTS MACRON
Former President Barack Obama has endorsed French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, taking his first dive back into international politics since leaving the White House in January. Macron released a video from Obama Thursday morning with the former president touting his candidacy. Macron is facing far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s runoff vote. Polls suggest Macron is well ahead. “I have admired the campaign that Emmanuel Macron has run,” Obama said. “He has stood up for liberal values; he put forward a vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world; and he is committed to a better future for the French people. He appeals to people’s hopes, and not their fears.” Obama said he doesn’t plan to get involved often in political situations. / AP
ARGENTINA SPY CHIEF CLEARED
Spy chief Gustavo Arribas has been cleared of wrongdoing after news reports linked him to the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history. The decision was announced Thursday after a prosecutor decided not to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that cleared Arribas. La Nacion newspaper reported earlier this year that Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht paid Arribas nearly $600,000 in 2013 through a black market money dealer. La Nacion alleged the money was deposited into a Swiss bank account. Arribas denied the reports and said he only received $70,000 as part of a real estate deal in Brazil. Odebrecht is embroiled in the socalled “Car Wash” probe into an alleged kickback scheme at Brazil’s state-run Petrobras oil company. / AP
CHINA CHINA BUILDS PASSENGER JET
The first large Chinese-made passenger jetliner made its maiden test flight Friday from Shanghai, a symbolic milestone in China’s long-term goal to break into the Western-dominated aircraft market. China is touting the C919 as a rival to single-aisle jets the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. The plane was originally due to fly in 2014 before being delivered to buyers in 2016, but has been beset by delays blamed on manufacturing problems. If the maiden flight is successful, the aircraft’s maker, state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., or Comac, will then seek certification from China’s civil aviation authority and foreign regulators before making any deliveries. The jet’s development is a key step on the path laid out by Chinese leaders to transform the country into a creator of profitable technology./ AP
INDONESIA JAIL FOR GOVERNOR URGED
Thousands of conservative Muslims took to the streets of the Indonesian capital to call for the jailing of its minority Christian governor who is on trial on charges of blaspheming the Quran. At least several thousand white-robed protesters marched after Friday prayers at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta until reaching the nearby Supreme Court building. The protest comes just days before a district court announces its verdict in Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s blasphemy trial. Some of the protesters held flags, banners and placards that said “Justice must be upheld” and “Ahok, the blasphemer of Islam, must be jailed.” Prosecutors last month recommended a two-year suspended prison sentence for Ahok. The light sentencing demand followed his defeat in a runoff election for governor. / AP