World News at a Glance

‘A Game of Chicken’: U.S. and China Are Risking a Clash at Sea

The Chinese warship warned the U.S. destroyer that it was on a “dangerous course” in the South China Sea. Then it raced up alongside. For a few tense minutes, a collision seemed imminent. Only a sharp starboard turn by the Decatur avoided a disaster Sept. 30 as the ships came within 45 yards of each other, marking the closest call yet as the U.S. Navy contests China’s military buildup in the South China Sea. "A game of chicken is being played around Asia’s flash points,” said Brendan Taylor, an expert on the South China Sea at the Australian National University.

Bribery Charges Urged Against Four Close to Netanyahu in Submarine Case

Israeli police Thursday recommended the indictment of one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants and three others from his inner circle in a bribery case involving the multibillion-dollar purchase of submarines and missile boats from Germany. Netanyahu was not a suspect in the scandal, which has been called Case 3000, and in fact he was cleared months ago, although he was questioned. Police have recommended criminal bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges against Netanyahu in two other corruption investigations. The police said they had sufficient evidence to charge David Shimron, Netanyahu’s second cousin and his personal lawyer, with bribery and money laundering.

Senator Urges Trump to Ease Ban on Aid Workers Traveling to North Korea

A Democratic senator has urged President Donald Trump to allow U.S. humanitarian aid workers into North Korea, despite a recent ban on travel to what officials consider a hostile nuclear state but also one of the world’s poorest nations. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a letter Wednesday that he was “deeply troubled” by reports that the Trump administration was barring aid workers “from shipping supplies or traveling to North Korea as they seek to provide the most basic humanitarian assistance.” Markey said aid workers should be allowed to do their jobs.

Prince Charles Says He’ll Temper His Opinions as King

Prince Charles has not been afraid to speak his mind on topics like historical preservation, climate change and alternative medicine. But as king, should that come to pass, it would be a very different matter, he acknowledged. “I do realize that it is a separate exercise being sovereign,” the prince said in a documentary on the BBC. The interview offered a rare glimpse of what Charles might be like as king and was perhaps an effort to assuage critics who have worried that he would diverge from British monarchs, who are bound by tradition to reign, not rule, over their subjects.

In Bipartisan Pleas, Experts Urge Trump to Save Nuclear Treaty With Russia

Alarmed at what they see as disintegrating curbs on nuclear weapons, a bipartisan array of nonproliferation experts urged President Donald Trump to salvage a Cold War-era treaty with Russia that he has vowed to scrap. In letters sent to the White House this week the experts said the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty had reduced the risk of nuclear war. Despite its flaws, they said, the U.S. should work to fix the accord. There was no immediate comment from the Trump administration. The treaty’s fate may arise this weekend if Trump sees President Vladimir Putin of Russia during an event in France celebrating the centennial of World War I’s end.

Pakistani Christian Freed After Being Cleared in Blasphemy Case

A Pakistani Christian woman who was cleared last week of blasphemy charges after spending eight years on death row has been released from prison but remains under government protection because of threats to her life, officials said Thursday. Asia Bibi was released from a prison in central Pakistan late Wednesday, a senior government official said Thursday. Bibi’s family has appealed for asylum, saying hard-line Islamists have called for her execution. The Supreme Court acquitted Bibi on Oct. 31 in an exceptionally rare ruling against a blasphemy verdict. The judges concluded there was little evidence that Bibi had spoken against the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with Muslim women in 2009.