NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Paris attack: A car exploded as it crashed into a police vehicle on Paris’ famed Champs Elysees on Monday in what authorities called a possible terrorist attack. The driver was killed, but no police officers or passersby were hurt, authorities said. Police are treating the incident as a deliberate attack, and the Paris prosecutor opened an antiterror investigation. Police said the driver was a 31-year-old man from a Paris suburb who had been flagged for extremism. The officials said he had an “S’’ file, which means authorities had been aware of potential links to extremism. In late April, before the first round of voting in France’s presidential elections, there was a similar incident on the Champs Elysees, when a gunman opened fire on French police parked on the street, killing one and wounding two.
2 Croatia fires: Hundreds of tourists and residents have been evacuated from areas threatened by wildfires along the central Adriatic coast. About 300 firefighters are battling the fires, which have been spreading because of strong winds near the resorts of Makarska and Tucepi. The fires started over the weekend and spread from the mountain national park of Biokovo. Around 800 visitors were evacuated Monday from three hotels, as well as hundreds of residents whose houses were endangered. There have been no reports of casualties.
3 Mexico summit: Foreign ministers gathering in Mexico from across the Americas are expected to discuss the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela. Nearly 70 people have died, hundreds more have been injured and thousands have been detained in months of protests in the South American nation. Last week, 23 ex-presidents from Latin America and Spain recommended the Organization of American States adopt a series of measures. They include demanding the government respect human rights, halt its forceful crackdown on protests and scrap a bid to rewrite the constitution. The OAS’ three-day gathering began Monday in Cancun.
4 Cuba policy: Cuba’s foreign minister rejected President Trump’s new policy toward the island, saying Monday that “we will never negotiate under pressure or under threat” and refusing to return U.S. fugitives who have received asylum in Cuba. Trump said Friday that the U.S. would impose new limits on U.S. travelers to the island and ban any payments to the military-linked conglomerate that controls much of the island’s tourism industry. He said the U.S. would consider lifting those and other restrictions only after Cuba returned fugitives and made a series of other internal changes. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez’s response Monday was a clear signal that there could be very little, if any, high-level U.S.-Cuba negotiation during Trump’s time in office.
5 Gaza power: Israel’s national electric company on Monday cut back its already limited electricity shipments to the Gaza Strip, a step that is expected to worsen the power crunch plaguing the seaside territory controlled by Hamas. The company confirmed the Israeli government instructed it to reduce supply to Gaza at the request of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ government in the West Bank. Abbas recently told Israel he would cut payments for Gaza’s electricity. Hamas seized Gaza from Abbas’ forces a decade ago, and the internationally recognized Palestinian leader is trying to step up pressure on the Islamic militant group to cede power. Gaza’s residents had been scraping by with about four hours of electricity a day, and now can expect to receive even less.