Burundi leader dies weeks before leaving office
NAIROBI, Kenya — Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has died of a heart attack at age 56, the government announced Tuesday, ending a 15-yearrule marked by deadly political violence and a historic withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.
The statement posted on social media said the president was admitted to a hospital overnight Saturday after not feeling well. He appeared better Sunday but “to very great surprise” his health abruptly worsened Monday morning, and several hours of effort failed to revive him.
Burundi’s government has declared a week of mourning.
Nkurunziza’s death comes weeks before president-elect ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye was expected to be sworn in after winning the May election.
“According to Burundi’s constitution, when a president dies in office before handing over power, the speaker of parliament takes over and organises a fresh election. But I think the leadership will ignore this requirement and go with Evariste Ndayishimiye,” said David Gakunzi, a Burundian author.
Fake warship appears meant for Iranian drills
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S., the Islamic Republic appears to have constructed a new mockup of an aircraft carrier off its southern coast for potential live-fire drills.
The faux foe, seen in satellite photographs obtained Tuesday, resembles the Nimitz-class carriers that the U.S. Navy routinely sails into the Persian Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz, its narrow mouth where 20 percent of all the world’s oil passes through.
The replica carries 16 mock-ups of fighter jets on its deck, according to satellite photos taken by Maxar Technologies. The vessel appears to be some 650 feet long and 160 feet wide. A real Nimitz is over 980 feet long and 245 feet wide.
North Korea cuts communications with the South
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said it was cutting off all communication channels with South Korea on Tuesday, a move experts say could signal Pyongyang has grown frustrated that Seoul has failed to revive lucrative inter-Korean economic projects and persuade the United States to ease sanctions.
The North’s Korean Central News Agency said all cross-border communication lines would be cut off at noon in the “the first step of the determination to completely shut down all contact means with South Korea and get rid of unnecessary things.”
North Korea said Tuesday’s move was a response to South Korea’s failure to stop activists from floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets across their border.
South Korea’s liberal government said that crossborder hotlines must be maintained.