Briefly

THE PHILIPPINES

Top court clears Arroyo of plunder

The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plunder case against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and ordered her freed immediately after nearly five years of hospital detention. Arroyo, 69, finished her tumultuous nine-year term in 2010 but was arrested the following year on an election fraud charge, for which she was allowed to post bail.

JAPAN

Man jailed in shrine blast

A South Korean man who detonated a homemade device in a public restroom at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison. Jeon Chang-han had been arrested in December and charged with trespassing, property damage and violation of the explosives control law. No one was hurt in the explosion at the shrine on Nov 23.

INDONESIA

Most wanted militant killed

Indonesia's most wanted Islamic militant was killed in a gunbattle with security forces, a top minister said on Tuesday, in a victory for the government's counterterrorism campaign that further tightens the vise on a dwindling band of extremists in the jungles of Sulawesi island. Abu Wardah Santoso was one of two militants killed in the shootout on Monday, Coordinating Minister for Security, Political and Legal Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said.

Man caught in hunting Pokemon

Indonesian police said they detained a Frenchman who trespassed on a military base while playing the augmented reality game Pokemon Go. A spokesman for West Java police said that Romain Pierre, 27, was caught at a checkpoint on Monday evening after initially running away when challenged by security guards at the military complex in Cirebon. Pierre was released a few hours later.

EUROPEAN UNION

EU slaps record fine on cartel

The European Union has slapped its biggest cartel fine, worth $3.24 billion, on five of Europe's top truck producers for colluding to keep prices artificially high at the expense of consumers. EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said EU-based MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF "colluded on the pricing and on passing on the costs for meeting environmental standards to customers".