Trump’s new war

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump this week declared the opioid epidemic (prescription drugs and heroin) a national emergency and said his administration was drafting papers to make it official.

“It is an emergency,” Trump said. “We’re going to draw it up and we’re going to make it a national emergency. It is a serious problem, the likes of which we have never had.” – Reuters

Fab Four in peril

ULAANBAATAR: A statue of The Beatles in the Mongolian capital could be at risk amid an alleged land grab, protesters say, as rapid development turns a city once famed for wide open spaces into a cluttered metropolis.

Residents are protesting plans to build commercial properties in Beatles Square, where a bronze bas-relief monument to the “Fab Four” commemorates Mongolia’s democracy in 1990. – Reuters

Judge charges six

SANTIAGO: A Chilean judge has formally accused six people of assassinating a former president, Eduardo Frei, during the country’s 1973 to 1990 dictatorship, marking the second time in a decade he has moved to resolve the enduring murder case.

Judge Alejandro Madrid originally brought charges against the six in 2009 but they were later dismissed. – Reuters

Kristal, 113, dies

JERUSALEM: Holocaust survivor Israel Kristal, who last year was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living man, died on Friday, aged 113.

Guinness said Kristal was born in Poland on September 15, 1903, and survived the Auschwitz death camp, where his first wife, two children and other family were killed by the Nazis. – Reuters

Neymar to pay

SAO PAULO: Paris St Germain forward Neymar had agreed to pay a fine to Brazil’s tax authorities to put his legal problems behind him, his lawyers said on Friday.

He expected to pay an 8 million real (R33.6m) fine. Brazil’s tax office, however, said no amount had been decided. – Reuters

Train crash kills 42

CAIRO: Two trains collided in Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria, killing 42 and injuring 133, the health ministry said.

A witness said the trains rose into the air “forming a pyramid” as they slammed into each other.

President Abdel Fattah al-sisi has ordered an inquiry into the crash. – Reuters

1 dead after quake

LIMA: A 5.6-magnitude undersea earthquake struck the Pacific Ocean off Peru’s southern coast, causing landslides on roads that killed one and injured two.

Authorities were working to clear roads affected.

The 41km-deep quake struck the Pacific 89km from the coastal city of Canama. – Reuters