World Briefs: WSJ admitted 'mistake' over headline, says China

BEIJING • China's Foreign Ministry said yesterday The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had been in touch with the government over a column this month that Beijing says carried a racist headline, and had admitted its "mistake".

Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said WSJ had not formally apologised. Publisher Dow Jones declined to comment.

China last week ordered three journalists with WSJ's Beijing bureau to leave the country after the paper declined to apologise for the column with a headline calling China the "real sick man of Asia".

REUTERS

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Egypt holds military funeral for Mubarak

CAIRO • Egypt held a military funeral in Cairo yesterday to bury its former president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years until he was ousted in a 2011 uprising against corruption.

Horses drew Mr Mubarak's coffin draped in the Egyptian flag at a mosque complex, followed by a procession led by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, top military brass and Mr Mubarak's two sons.

Mr Mubarak died on Tuesday, leaving Egyptians divided over his legacy during an era of stagnation and repression, which some recall as more stable than the chaos that followed.

REUTERS

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Iran's nuclear accord parties try to salvage deal

VIENNA • Western European powers stepped up efforts yesterday to try to save a 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Officials from Britain, France and Germany began a meeting in Vienna - the first since they launched a dispute process over alleged violations by Iran - aiming to persuade the country to fall back into line with the deal.

The other parties to the deal, China and Russia, are also taking part in the talks overseen by the European Union.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE