Trump says Cuba bears responsibility
Compiled from news services
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump said Monday that he believes Cuba is responsible for unexplained, invisible attacks in Cuba that have harmed American government workers.
Though Mr. Trump’s comments appeared to be a new allegation, it wasn’t clear whether he meant Cuba was behind the attacks or merely shared the onus because it failed to keep Americans safe on its soil. The United States has avoided casting blame on Cuban President Raul Castro’s government for the attacks that began last year and have eluded an FBI investigation.
There was no reaction from the Cuban Embassy in Washington to Trump’s remark. Mr. Castro’s government has repeatedly denied both involvement in and knowledge of the attacks.
Journalist killed
An investigative journalist in Malta who exposed her island nation’s links to offshore tax havens using the leaked Panama Papers was killed in a car bombing Monday, an attack that shocked Malta and was condemned by leaders of the European Union.
The journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, 43, died when the car she was driving exploded in Bidnija, a hamlet in northcentral Malta. Her final blog post, accusing the prime minister’s chief of staff of corruption, had been published about a half-hour earlier.
Evacuation drills
SEOUL, South Korea — The United States military said on Monday that it would practice evacuating noncombatant Americans out of South Korea in the event of war and other emergencies, as the two allies began a joint naval exercise amid heightened tensions with North Korea.
It has conducted similar evacuation exercises for decades. But with fears rising in the South that the United States might be preparing for military action against the North, the American military issued a rare news release on Monday stressing that the noncombatant evacuation exercise was a “routinely scheduled” drill.
Japanese casinos
TOKYO— American gambling companies are falling over themselves to win favor in Japan, where the government is preparing to allow casinos to open their doors in flashy resorts to rival Singapore and Macau.
Executives from Las VegasSands and MGM Resorts have repeatedly said they would each invest as much as $10 billion in Japan.
Many Japanese are concerned about the social harm that might come with casinos. A poll by the Jiji news agency conducted in August found that twothirds of respondents were opposed to the introduction of casinos, with most worried about crime and gambling addictions.
Also in the world...
Opponents of Mr. Trump’s latest try at a travel ban spent 90 minutes in court on Monday, urging a Maryland judge to block it. The judge didn’t rule. ... Mr. Trump will meet with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a marathon trip to Asia next month, the White House announced Monday.