World News at a Glance

Pyeongchang’s Path From Obscurity to Olympics Fame

Pyeongchang, a mountain backwater in South Korea’s poorest province, near one of the world’s most dangerous and heavily armed borders, is hosting the Winter Games, which begin Friday. The town’s bid for the 2010 Games failed, as did a bid to host in 2014, but the International Olympic Committee finally gave Pyeongchang, population 43,000, the nod for the 2018 spectacle. “Before we started our Olympic campaign, few South Koreans, much less any foreigners, even knew we existed,” said Lee Ji-seol, a 22-year-old resident.

Secret Alliance: Israel Carries Out Airstrikes in Egypt, With Cairo’s OK

The jihadis in Egypt’s Northern Sinai had killed hundreds of soldiers and police officers, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and briefly seized a major town. Egypt appeared unable to stop them, so Israel, alarmed at the threat just over the border, took action. For more than two years, unmarked Israeli drones, helicopters and jets have carried out a covert air campaign, conducting more than 100 airstrikes inside Egypt — and all with the approval of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Once enemies in three wars, Egypt and Israel are now secret allies in a covert war against a common foe.

Most Afghans Can’t Read, but Their Book Trade Is Booming

At a time when book publishers in many countries are struggling, those in Afghanistan have been flourishing — despite the country’s chronically low literacy rates: Only 2 out of 5 Afghan adults can read. But those who can seem to be doing it with remarkable regularity, both despite and because of the country’s cyclonic violence, especially recently. Unsurprisingly, Afghanistan’s book publishers have capitalized on this. Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan with a population of more than 5 million, has 22 book publishers, many with their own presses. Scores of others are scattered throughout the country’s 34 provinces, even in war-torn areas like Helmand and Kandahar.

Fentanyl Adds Deadly Kick to Opioid Woes in Britain

There was something different in the batches of heroin that circulated through the English port city of Kingston Upon Hull over the summer, but most addicts had no idea what it was until their friends and fellow addicts, 16 in all, had died of overdoses. The new kick came from fentanyl, an opiate painkiller 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, that was mixed in with the heroin. Britain already has Europe’s highest proportion of heroin addicts, and last year, drug-related deaths hit a record high 3,744 in England and Wales. British authorities fear that fentanyl could become the country’s next most dangerous drug.

In South Africa, One Question Dominates: How Much Longer Should Zuma Stay?

In December, Cyril Ramaphosa was elected leader of the African National Congress and, given the party’s pre-eminence, became South Africa’s president-in-waiting. That left President Jacob Zuma still in charge. Under South Africa’s constitution, the parliament elects the president. That leaves the ANC with two options if it wants to recall Zuma before the end of his term in 2019: Order him to step down and avoid bringing the matter to parliament; or allow the anti-Zuma camp to join forces with opposition lawmakers to impeach him. Ramaphosa’s allies are pressing Zuma — whose corruption-plagued eight years in office have damaged South Africa’s economy and reputation — to step down as early as possible.

Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 11 at Pakistani Army Base

At least 11 soldiers, including an army captain, were killed and 13 others were injured Saturday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a highly guarded army base in northern Pakistan, officials said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, one of the deadliest against the military in recent years. The powerful explosion, which rocked the surrounding area, occurred in the Kabal region of Swat, a picturesque valley in the northern part of the country.

Lasers Reveal a Maya Civilization So Dense It Blew Experts’ Minds

Laser technology has uncovered tens of thousands of structures built by the Maya over a millennium ago in what are now the jungles of northern Guatemala. The findings suggested an ancient society of such density and interconnectedness that even the most experienced archaeologists were surprised. “Everywhere that we looked, there was more settlement than we expected,” said Thomas Garrison, a National Geographic explorer and an archaeologist at Ithaca College. “We knew there was going to be more, but the scale of it really blew our minds.”

Russian Warplane Shot Down in Syria by Rebels, Defense Ministry Says

A Russian fighter jet was shot down in a rebel-controlled area of Idlib province in northern Syria on Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, adding that the pilot was killed by members of a militia on the ground. The downing of the jet occurred in one of the country’s de-escalation zones established last year by Russia, Iran and Turkey, in an attempt to lessen the bloodshed in Syria’s long civil war. The area is controlled by several different rebel factions, including the Free Syria army, Islamic groups and Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaida-affiliated alliance.

‘Racial Hatred’ Cited After African Immigrants Are Shot in Italy

A gunman apparently targeting African immigrants from his car went on a drive-by shooting rampage in the central Italian city of Macerata on Saturday, wounding at least six people, officials said. News media identified the suspect as Luca Traini, 28. All of those shot were black; Traini is white. A reporter said Traini had the Italian flag draped on his shoulders when he climbed the stairs of the city’s war dead memorial and raised his arm in a fascist salute. Military police officers then arrested him. Interior Minister Marco Minniti called the shootings an “evident display of racial hatred.”

Boeing Deal in Brazil Hits Headwind

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing is eagerly pursuing a partnership with the Brazilian jet maker Embraer as part of a global battle with its European rival, Airbus. But the talks are advancing at a politically fraught time in Brazil, and the Brazilian government — which owns a so-called golden share that gives it veto power over any change in ownership at Embraer — could derail a deal the two companies are said to be racing to complete. A deal with Embraer would give Boeing a broader portfolio of aircraft, including access to Embraer’s smaller regional planes, which compete directly with jets made by the Canadian company Bombardier.