NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Israeli military exercises: The Israeli military is in the midst of its largest military exercise in almost two decades, focusing on a potential war with Hezbollah. Held in the north of the country, the roughly two-week drill — dubbed “The Light of Grain” — comes amid rising tension along the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Hezbollah, the Lebanese political party and militia, has maintained a presence for decades. The drill will simulate “scenarios we’ll be facing in the next confrontation with Hezbollah,” an Israeli defense source told Agence France-Presse. The line of demarcation between the two countries has been relatively peaceful since the last war in 2006. However, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have increased steadily over the past several months due at least in part to Israeli actions on the border and Hezbollah’s deep involvement in the Syrian war.
2 Boko Haram attack: The leader of a self-defense group in the northern Nigerian state of Borno says suspected Boko Haram insurgents have killed at least nine people at a farm outside the capital, Maiduguri. Bunu Bukar, the secretary of the Borno state hunters association, says the insurgents abducted nine farmers before dumping their bodies on Friday. Boko Haram fighters have intensified attacks on farmers in recent weeks, including the killing of dozens in two raids south of Maiduguri. The Islamic extremist group has killed more than 20,000 during its eight-year insurgency.
3 Somalia restaurant bombing: A Somali police officer says four civilians are dead after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a restaurant in Baidoa town in southwestern Somalia. Officer Ahmed Isaq says the bomber walked into the crowded restaurant posing as a customer and targeted a group of diners. Isaq says three other people are wounded. There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. The al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab extremist group often carries out deadly bombings in high-profile areas of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere.
4 Murder suspects: Police in Tanzania said Friday that they are holding suspects in the killing last month of prominent South African wildlife conservationist Wayne Lotter. Lotter was fatally shot in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam while being driven from the airport to his hotel. Lotter helped to train thousands of game scouts throughout the East African nation. He also developed an “intelligence-based approach” against poaching that has had success in countering wildlife trafficking, according to the U.S.-based conservation group PAMS Foundation that Lotter co-founded. Poachers have killed tens of thousands of elephants in Tanzania in the past decade.
5 Violence on Uber drivers: Uber says South Africa’s government must do more to prevent taxi driver violence after at least one vehicle using the ride-hailing app was set on fire. South African transport minister Joe Maswanganyi on Friday denounced the clashes a day earlier between metered taxi drivers and competitors who use the Uber app in Johannesburg’s upscale Sandton district. Police say two Uber-linked vehicles were set on fire. Uber confirms that one of the cars was registered to use its app and that the driver was “not seriously injured.” South African media quote authorities as saying some drivers using the Uber app retaliated by throwing stones, and police fired rubber bullets to restore order.