GLOBAL SNAPSHOT
IS link to company
PARIS: Three former employees with cement giant Lafarge have been interviewed by French investigators about claims the firm indirectly paid armed groups, including Islamic State (IS), to keep a plant running in a war zone. The three former workers came from Syria to be interviewed by examining magistrates in Paris this week. The probe focuses on claims that in 2013-14, the then Frenchbased cement giant channelled payments to IS to continue operations in war-torn Syria.
Buddhists attack
YANGON: Police in western Myanmar say they have fired warning shots after a Buddhist mob tried to block humanitarian aid headed to an area where ethnic Rohingya Muslims were driven from their homes. No injuries were reported. Police said 300 men started throwing rocks and molotov cocktails at officers protecting International Committee of the Red Cross supplies late Wednesday.
Superbug spreads
HANOI: Vietnam’s main malaria treatment is failing at an alarming rate because of a highly drug-resistant superbug that has spread into the south of the country from western Cambodia, scientists said. In their letter published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the scientists said the spread of the superbug across the Mekong subregion is a serious threat to malaria control and eradication efforts.
Duterte drug row
MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will have his son killed if drug trafficking allegations against the younger politician are true, and that the police who carry out the hit will be protected from prosecution. Paolo Duterte, 42, this month appeared before a senate inquiry to deny accusations made by an opposition politician that he was a member of a Chinese triad who helped smuggle methamphetamine from China. President Duterte reiterated his statement from last year’s election campaign that none of his children were involved in drugs, but they would face the harshest punishment if they were.
Navy to rescue
WELLINGTON: A New Zealand navy vessel will ferry diesel fuel around the country as the government rushes to alleviate a days-long fuel shortage that has cast air travel into disarray in the run-up to tomorrow’s national election. The ship will transport up to 4.8 million litres of diesel to enable industry to focus on providing jet fuel to crisis-hit Auckland airport. More than 120 flights have been cancelled in New Zealand’s largest city this week.