PROSECUTORS RAID HOME OF SKOREA EX- PRESIDENT’S BROTHER

SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors raided the house and office of ex- president Lee Myung- Bak’s brother on Monday, reports said, probing allegations the former head of state took bribes from the national spy agency during his term. Lee Sang- Deuk, 82, is suspected of receiving hundreds of millions of won from the National Intelligence Service ( NIS), Yonhap news agency reported. Investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office searched the elder brother’s home and office and confiscated documents and computer hard drives, according to Yonhap. Lee Sang- Deuk, a former lawmaker, was found guilty of corruption in a separate case in 2013 and served 14 months in jail. The raid comes as part of a widening probe into illicit transfers of funds between the presidential office and the spy agency during the administrations of Lee and his ousted successor Park Geun- Hye, both of them conservatives.

SACKED CATALAN LEADER ARRIVES IN DENMARK DESPITE SPANISH ARREST THREAT

COPENHAGEN: Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont arrived in Copenhagen on Monday, defying a threat by Madrid to issue a warrant for his arrest if he leaves Belgium, where he has been in exile since a failed independence bid. Danish broadcaster TV2 released an image on its website of Puigdemont being surrounded by reporters after his plane landed in Copenhagen Airport. A source in his entourage also confirmed his arrival in the Danish capital. His trip comes a day after Spain’s prosecution service said it would “immediately” have a supreme court judge issue a warrant for his arrest if he travels to Denmark, and urge Copenhagen to hand him over. Puigdemont fled to Belgium in late October after Madrid sacked his cabinet over their breakaway attempt.

SAUDI- LED COALITION ANNOUNCES $1.5B IN NEW AID FOR YEMEN

RIYADH: A Saudi-led military coalition on Monday announced $1.5 billion in new humanitarian aid for Yemen, after the United Nations made what is called a record appeal for assistance for the war-ravaged country. The kingdom also said the military coalition it heads in Yemen would also “increase the capacities of Yemeni ports to receive human- itarian” imports, as it faces mounting criticism for imposing a crippling blockade on the country. The latest aid package, which follows last week’s $2 billion Saudi cash injection to Yemen’s central bank, comes amid an ever-broadening crisis in the war-torn country, where the conflict, cholera and looming famine have killed thousands and put millions of lives at risk. The new aid program seeks to open land, sea and air lanes to Yemen to boost monthly imports to 1.4 million metric tons from 1.1 million last year, it added.

ROHINGYA REPATRIATION WON’T BEGIN TUESDAY AS PLANNED – BANGLADESH

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh: The repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar due to begin on Tuesday will be delayed, a Bangladesh official said. Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Abul Kalam Azad did not give a revised starting date for plans by his country and Myanmar to repatriate some 750,000 refugees who fled unrest and a military crackdown in Rakhine state. Azad said they have not made the preparations required to send back people and a lot of preparation is still needed. A “rigorous process” was required before repatriation could begin, including building transit centers and compiling a list of potential returnees for verification by Myanmar, he said. The repatriation process is expected to take two years.