World Digest: Sept. 20, 2014

UKRAINE

Negotiators agree on buffer zone

Negotiators in Ukrainian peace talks agreed early Saturday to create a buffer zone to separate government troops and pro-Russian militants and withdraw heavy weapons and foreign fighters in order to ensure a stable truce in eastern Ukraine.

The deal reached by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the Moscow-backed rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe marks an effort to add substance to a cease-fire agreement that was signed Sept. 5 but has been frequently broken by clashes.

Leonid Kuchma, a former Ukrainian president who represented the Kiev government in the talks, said the memorandum will be implemented within a day. Under the terms of the deal, reached in Belarus’s capital, Minsk, each party must pull its artillery at least nine miles back, setting up a buffer zone that would be 19 miles wide.

— Associated Press

YEMEN

Shiite, Sunni fighters clash in the capital

Shiite rebels and Sunni militiamen battled in Sanaa for a second day Friday in violent clashes that have killed at least 120 people and have shaken the Yemeni capital with thousands fleeing their homes.

The violence raises fears that the chronically unstable country could be dragged into the sort of sectarian conflicts that have plagued Syria and Iraq. Shiite rebels known as Houthis have surged from their stronghold in the north, taking a string of cities, and fought their way to the capital. Their main opponents have been Sunni hard-liners.

— Associated Press

CHINA

British drugmaker fined $492 million

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline was fined $492 million on Friday for bribing doctors in China, the biggest such penalty ever imposed by a Chinese court.

The court sentenced the British firm’s former China manager, Briton Mark Reilly, and four Chinese co-defendants to prison but postponed the sentences for two to four years, suggesting they may never be served. The court said it granted leniency because the defendants confessed.

The case, first publicized in mid-2013, highlighted the widespread use of payments to doctors and hospitals by sellers of drugs and medical equipment in a poorly funded health system that Chinese leaders have promised to improve. In a statement, Glaxo said it would pay the fine and had made changes in its business to remedy flaws cited by Chinese authorities

— Associated Press

500,000 infected by mosquito-borne virus: The mosquito-borne virus known as chikungunya has sickened nearly 500,000 people in the Dominican Republic, including 109 newborns, an official with the country’s Health Ministry said. The virus was transmitted to the infants by their mothers, who had the illness when they gave birth. Symptoms include high fever, severe headaches and joint pain. The first cases appeared in March.

News anchor fired for gaffe on Chinese leader’s name: A news anchor for India’s state TV channel, Doordarshan, was fired after she referred to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping as “Eleven” Jingping — apparently mistaking his name for a Roman numeral, a station official said. Xi left for China on Friday after a three-day visit to India.