NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
Arctic drilling: A court in Norway said Thursday that the government can hand out oil drilling licenses in the Arctic, dealing a blow to two environmental groups that had filed a lawsuit against further drilling in the Barents Sea. The Oslo District Court acquitted the government against charges from Nature and Youth and Greenpeace Nordic that drilling for oil and gas in Arctic waters would violate with the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Norwegian constitution.
Train accident: A passenger train carrying people home after the holidays slammed into a truck in rural South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 18 people and injuring about 260 others, the government said. Authorities blamed the truck driver for allegedly trying to cross the tracks just ahead of the oncoming train, part of which burst into flames after the collision and forced passengers to hurriedly drag their luggage from the smoking wreck to a nearby road. The train with 429 passengers aboard had been traveling from Port Elizabeth to the country’s commercial hub, Johannesburg.
American released: A Zimbabwean court on Thursday freed “for now” an American woman charged with subversion for allegedly describing the former president on Twitter as a “sick man.” Martha O’Donovan, who grew up in New Jersey, had faced up to 20 years in prison. A magistrate removed her from remand after prosecutors failed to provide a trial date, freeing her from the charges but only temporarily. O’Donovan’s lawyer Obey Shava said she can still be summoned back to court if the prosecution feels it has more evidence against her. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights says it has represented nearly 200 people charged under a law that criminalizes insulting or undermining the president.
Korea exercises: The Trump administration agreed to delay joint military exercises with South Korea until after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month, the Pentagon said Thursday. The decision pushes back a set of annual military exercises, which normally are held between February and April to test the readiness of the two countries’ militaries. Thursday’s decision came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reopened a key cross-border communication channel with South Korea for the first time in nearly two years. On Friday, the rival Koreas agreed to hold formal dialogue next week to find ways to cooperate on the Olympics.
Pakistan aid suspended: The U.S. announced Thursday it was suspending security assistance to Pakistan for failing to take “decisive action” against Taliban militants targeting U.S. personnel in neighboring Afghanistan. The State Department’s declaration signaled growing frustration over Pakistan’s cooperation in fighting terrorist networks, but it was not immediately clear how much money and materiel was being withheld “Inciting debauchery”: Egyptian prosecutors ordered the detention Thursday of a little-known female singer over a racy video posted online, the second female singer to face legal action within a month. The prosecutors charged Laila Amer with violating public decency and inciting debauchery in the video for belly dancing, making provocative gestures and playing the role of a downtrodden housewife complaining to her husband about his bossy mother. Egyptian authorities have been criticized in recent years for their crackdown on dissent and freedoms.