Illegal brew kills scores in India
In the past few days, a poisonous batch of illegal homemade alcohol has killed as many as 100 people in northern India. The deaths, which have rattled the country, prompted the authorities to crack down on underground brewers, arresting more than 3,000 suspects and seizing tens of thousands of gallons of illicit alcohol.
Indian officials say they have traced the poisonous batch to a criminal enterprise that brews thousands of pouches of illicit alcohol in an underground factory hidden in the forest in Uttarakhand State.
Many villagers have vented their fury at police officers, whom they accuse of taking bribes from bootleggers to look the other way while dangerous illegal brews are sold openly.
Afghanistan peace push
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Pentagon’s top official made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Monday to meet with U.S. commanders and Afghan leaders amid a push for peace with the Taliban.
Pat Shanahan, the recently installed acting secretary of defense, said he has no orders to reduce the U.S. troop presence, although officials say that is at the top of the Taliban’s list of demands in exploratory peace negotiations.
Mr. Shanahan said he is encouraged that the Trump administration is exploring all possibilities for ending a 17-year war, the longest in American history. But he stressed that peace terms are for the Afghans to decide.
Thus far the Taliban have refused to negotiate with the government of President Ashraf Ghani, calling it illegitimate.
Prince gives up license
When Britain’s Prince Philip flipped his Land Rover last month and walked away from what could have been a deadly accident, many wondered how long it would take for Queen Elizabeth II to ask him to hand over his keys for good.
Buckingham Palace announced Saturday that “after careful consideration,” the 97-year-old “has taken the decision to voluntarily surrender his driving license.”
The crash earned quite a bit of attention in Britain, where many didn’t realize the queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, still drove. It’s unclear what led to the crash between his Land Rover and another driver’s Kia, which was carrying a 9-month-old baby. The baby survived the crash unharmed.
Just two days later, Philip was caught on camera driving a new Land Rover — that time without a seat belt.
Battle at last IS foothold
BEIRUT — Islamic State group militants cornered in their last foothold in eastern Syria fought back with suicide car bombs, snipers and booby traps Monday, slowing Kurdish fighters advancing under the cover of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, Kurdish news agencies and a Syrian war monitor said.
An Italian photographer was wounded in the clashes between the U.S.backed Syrian Democratic Forces and the militants holed up in the village of Baghouz, near the border with Iraq, an Italian news agency said.
No one knows how many Islamic State fighters are still holding out in the sliver of territory under attack, although they are estimated to be in the hundreds, most of them foreign fighters.