GABON
Nigerien stabs two Danes
Two Danes were on Saturday wounded in a knife attack in Gabon’s capital apparently committed in retribution for “US attacks against Muslims,” a rare assault in a Central African nation that has escaped extremist violence. The two men, who were working for the National Geographic channel, were stabbed while shopping in a market popular with tourists, Minister of Defense Etienne Massard said, adding that the attack appeared to be politically motivated. “According to the first testimonies at the scene, the assailant, a 53-year-old Nigerien man, shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ [Arabic for ‘God is great’] during the attack. He was arrested on the spot,” Massard said.
CHILE
Mudslide kills at least five
A mudslide fueled by heavy rains on Saturday swept over a village in the south, leaving at least five people dead and 15 missing, officials said. Rain caused a river to overflow and the side of a hill to collapse, burying 20 of the 200 houses in Villa Santa Lucia in the Los Lagos region, 1,272km south of the capital, Santiago. President Michelle Bachelet declared the region a catastrophe zone and confirmed the number of dead and missing. She met with her team of ministers to coordinate rescue and assistance efforts. Earlier on Saturday, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Madmud Aleuy said there were three people dead, including an unidentified tourist, and 15 others missing.
PHILIPPINES
Thousands stranded by storm
Thousands of people heading home for Christmas were yesterday stranded by Tropical Depression Kai-Tak, a day after the storm killed three people as it pounded the nation’s eastern islands. The storm has weakened, with gusts of up to 90kph, after cutting off power and triggering landslides in a region devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan four years ago, state weather forecasters said. Disaster officials yesterday said that more floods and landslides were possible and that 15,500 passengers were stranded because ferry services remained suspended in parts of the country.
LIBYA
Refugees rescued at sea
The coast guard rescued at least 270 refugees off the country’s shores, a navy official said on Saturday, bringing to more than 450 the total number of refugees they have rescued in less than a week. El-Hadi Kheil said that the Arab and African refugees, who included women and children, were found at sea in an area between the coastal towns of Garabulli and Zliten, east of the capital, Tripoli, where they were taken to a naval base. “We were lost and didn’t know where to direct our boat,” Omar Yusef, a Sudanese refugee, told reporters. “We called the coast guard and a helicopter came and guided us.”
UNITED STATES
Burros caught in wildfire
Nine burros that are a favorite of visitors to South Dakota’s Custer State Park have been burned in a wildfire and it is not known if all of them would survive, a park official said on Saturday. The park reported that all nine burros had been found — a day after three of them were reported missing and feared dead in the wildfire that has consumed more than 218km2, but all nine were burned and are being treated by a veterinarian. Some were not injured as badly as others, but their chances of survival and the severity of their injuries might not be known for some time, park visitor services program manager Kobee Stalder said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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