NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Resort violence: Prosecutors said on Friday six bodies were found this week around the twin resorts of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, which has been the scene of increasing violence in recent months. The bodies of three men showed signs of torture. Two women and a man were found shot to death near the airport.
2 Somalia conflict: The head of the African Union mission in Somalia is seeking a surge in troops to help the country’s military control areas won back from extremist group al-Shabab, saying the Somali National Army has been unable to take charge as expected. Francisco Caetano Madeira’s request for an unspecified number of extra troops comes amid widespread concern that Somalia’s military won’t be ready to take over the country’s security as the 22,000strong AU force prepares to withdraw by the end of 2020. Al-Shabab continues to carry out deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere.
3 Rebel trial: A Congolese court in Beni on Friday sentenced to death nine rebels and acquitted two others as the government seeks to hold a rebel group accountable for attacks that have killed more than 1,000 people in eastern Congo since October 2014. The convicted were prosecuted for crimes against humanity, terrorism and participation in a rebellion, presiding judge Lt. Col. Jean-Paulin Esosa Basema said. They are members of the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group founded in neighboring Uganda that is now based in Congo. They are among scores of armed groups vying for control in mineral-rich eastern Congo.
4 Measles outbreak: Thousands of people have caught measles in an ongoing outbreak that has caused 17 deaths in Romania, the health minister said Friday. Florian Bodog said that around 3,400 people had contracted the disease since the outbreak began in September 2016. Romania has lowered the age for administering the first vaccine dose from the usual 12 months to nine months, recommending all children under 9 are vaccinated.
5 Couple freed: A South African man and his pregnant Ukrainian fiancee won’t face charges in the United Arab Emirates after their arrest for having sex outside of marriage, a South African newspaper reported Friday. Charges against Emlyn Culverwell and Iryna Nohai were dropped in Abu Dhabi, The Herald reported. The Emirates’ desire to promote itself as a cosmopolitan and tolerant corner of the Middle East has at times run up against local laws, which are based in part on Islamic legal codes and forbid sex outside of marriage. Similar laws are on the books across much of the Islamic world.
6 Airport attack: Malaysian police on Friday formally identified Kim Jong Nam as the victim of a fatal nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur’s airport, an expected but significant development in a case that has broken down the oncewarm ties between North Korea and Malaysia. Kim is the long-estranged half brother of North Korea’s ruler, and the North has refused to acknowledge he was the victim of the Feb. 13 murder. Instead, North Korea refers to him as Kim Chol, the name on the passport Kim was carrying when he was attacked in a crowded airport terminal. Malaysian authorities have asked for Kim’s immediate family to provide DNA samples to identify the body, but nobody has come forward. Malaysia’s prime minister has said they may be too scared.
Chronicle News Services