NIGERIA
Bomb blasts kill at least 18
A self-defense fighter said twin bomb blasts have killed at least 18 at a mosque in the northeast of the country crowded with people observing pre-dawn prayers. The fighter was among rescuers who evacuated bodies while troops cordoned off the zone. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Yesterday’s attack was the latest in a string of assaults blamed on Boko Haram Islamic extremists who have indiscriminately killed Christians and Muslims they accuse of not following their radical version of Shariah law. The fighter said there appeared to be only one suicide bomber although “we all heard two explosions” about 5am in a mosque in the Jiddari Polo area of Maiduguri, the biggest city in the northeast and the birthplace of Boko Haram.
FRANCE
Highway pile-up kills dozens
At least 42 people were killed yesterday morning when a bus and a truck collided on a highway in southwestern France, according to local officials. A police spokeswoman said the accident had taken place on the D17 secondary road near Puisseguin, about 55km east of Bordeaux. Sixty firefighters were reported to be at the scene. Five people were injured, and three survived the crash unharmed, according to the spokeswoman. President Francois Hollande said on Twitter that the accident had caused “many deaths” and that the government was “totally mobilized on this terrible tragedy.”
MEXICO
Five arrested over lynching
Authorities have arrested five people suspected of being part of a mob that lynched and burned two brothers in central Mexico, officials said on Thursday. Police are looking for four more suspects following Monday’s killing in the state of Puebla, Governor Rafael Moreno Valle told reporters. Federal and state police were deployed to the town of Ajalpan to take over security from the municipal force after it failed to prevent the lynching. The mob accused the two brothers of trying to kidnap children even though they insisted they were working in the town as pollsters. Local police took them to the station but the crowd stormed the building, took them out and beat them to death in a public space while onlookers took pictures. “This barbaric act happened in front of municipal authorities who were overwhelmed by the population,” Moreno Valle said. The bodies of the brothers were delivered to their family on Wednesday. “They killed the father of my two babies. It’s unforgivable. They killed good people,” said Elsa Garcia, wife of one of the victims. While lynchings have happened in several towns in Mexico in recent years, this case has drawn outrage as gruesome pictures of burning bodies were taken by witnesses and published by newspapers.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in