GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

Trump’s debt deal

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has forged a surprising deal with Democrats in Congress to extend the US debt limit and provide government funding until December 15. Mr Trump confirmed the extension was linked to relief funding for victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Pope’s peace plea

BOGOTA: Pope Francis has landed in Colombia to plead for lasting peace in a country moving towards the end of a half-century war. The 80-yearold Argentine pontiff descended from his plane at a military airport in Bogota.

Brexit begins

LONDON: British lawmakers were yesterday due to begin debating landmark legislation to end Britain’s membership of the European Union with Prime Minister Theresa May gearing up for battle. The bill would repeal the European Communities Act, which enshrines Britain’s membership of the bloc on the day it leaves the bloc and convert an estimated 12,000 existing European regulations into British law.

Refugees perish

KUTUPALONG: A trawler carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar has capsized, killing at least five people. Residents in the Bangladesh village of Shah Porir Dwip recovered five bodies from the Bay of Bengal, hours after a boat capsized.

Captives recovered

MANILA: The Philippine military says two Indonesians who escaped from Abu Sayyaf militants after 10 months of captivity were yesterday recovered by troops in Indanan town in southern Sulu province. Boat crewmen Sarapuddin Koni and Sawal Maryam had been abducted on November 19 in waters off Sabah, Malaysia.