World News at a Glance

Trump to Skip Meetings in Asia as He Keeps a Distance With Allies

As President Donald Trump hardened his stance on trade with Canada, one of the nation’s closest allies, the White House said Friday that Trump would not be traveling to Asia for a round of economic and security meetings with allies this fall. Instead, Vice President Mike Pence will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting, the East Asia Summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation session this year, according to a statement issued by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. "The vice president looks forward to meeting with our allies and partners from across the region to advance security, prosperity and freedom for all,” Sanders said.

Trump Administration’s Move to Cut Aid to Palestinian Refugees Is Denounced

The Trump administration’s decision to end U.S. funding to a U.N. agency that provides assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees was denounced broadly Friday by international officials, former U.S. diplomats and Palestinians who were reeling from the elimination of a decadeslong policy of support. “The United States will no longer commit further funding to this irredeemably flawed operation,” said Heather Nauert, the chief State Department spokeswoman. The move was pushed by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser on the Middle East, as part of a plan to compel Palestinian politicians to drop demands that most of the refugees be allowed to return to what they call their homeland.

In Myanmar, a Facebook Blackout Brings More Anger Than a Genocide Charge

Myanmar made international headlines twice this week, with each instance provoking a drastically different response from the country’s citizens. First, a U.N. panel recommended that Myanmar’s top military commanders stand trial for genocide in relation to what it has called the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim minority. Second, Facebook barred from its network 20 individuals and organizations linked to the military for committing or enabling “serious human rights abuses in the country.” The U.N. report was largely ignored by the local news media and internet users. The Facebook ban, by contrast, catalyzed a frenzied, vociferous response in Myanmar, where the social-media platform is so popular that it is synonymous with the internet.

Australia’s Catholic Leaders Reject Call to Report Sex Abuse Heard in Confessions

Catholic leaders in Australia on Friday rejected a government push to force priests to report accusations of child sexual abuse heard during confession, saying it would violate a sacred rite, infringe on religious freedom and ultimately do little to protect children. The rebuke came as the local Roman Catholic Church issued a lengthy response to a five-year government inquiry uncovering what officials called a “national tragedy” of widespread sexual abuse of children spanning decades. The investigation, perhaps the most far-reaching inquiry of its kind undertaken by any country, examined abuse in religious institutions, schools and other establishments, finding that many of the cases of suspected abuse involved Catholic priests and religious brothers.

Ukrainian Separatist Leader Is Killed in Restaurant Bombing

The leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Russian-backed separatist enclave in eastern Ukraine, was killed Friday when a bomb exploded at a restaurant where he was having dinner, an attack that threatened to set off an escalation of the Ukraine war. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, blamed the Ukrainian government, saying that “there is every reason to suggest that the Kiev regime stands behind this murder.” And Russia’s speaker of Parliament suggested that because the victim, Alexander Zakharchenko, was one of the parties who signed a peace agreement with Ukraine called Minsk II, that pact was no longer valid.

EU Will Let Countries Decide Whether to Use Daylight Saving

European countries that have observed daylight saving time for generations may soon put an end to it, European Union officials signaled Friday, saying that they would drop a rule that member countries must abide by the “spring forward, fall back” ritual. This summer, the union invited residents to fill out an online form giving their opinions on daylight saving, or summer time. The millions who responded were overwhelmingly in favor of abolishing it, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, told ZDF, a German public broadcaster. At the Brussels headquarters of the commission, officials made clear that his pronouncement was premature and that changing EU regulations was easier said than done.