NEWS OF THE DAY
1 South Africa drought: The city of Cape Town has pushed back “Day Zero” — the date when it might have to turn off most water taps because of a long drought — by nearly a month to May 11. Authorities said Monday that the reprieve is due to an anticipated decline in agricultural use of water because many farms in Western Cape province, which includes the city, have used up water supplies allocated to them. Officials had previously projected “Day Zero” to fall on April 16. The city’s reservoirs have been dried by three straight years of drought.
2 Mideast stabbing: A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli man to death at a bus stop near a West Bank settlement on Monday before fleeing the scene, Israeli officials said. An army officer chased the assailant after the stabbing near the entrance to Ariel, hitting the attacker with his vehicle, but the attacker managed to get away. Israeli media reported the victim was a father of four. Palestinians seek the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, as part of their future state. Most of the international community views Israeli settlements there as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel says the fate of settlements must be resolved through negotiations.
3 Missing tanker: India has sought the help of the navies of Nigeria and Benin to find an oil tanker that has gone missing with 22 Indian crew members off Benin’s coast. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the tanker, Marine Express, went missing in the Gulf of Guinea. It’s not known whether the ship was hijacked for ransom or to steal the oil on board. In January, another oil tanker, MT Barret, went missing off the coast of Benin. That crew of 22, mostly Indians, was released within days after a ransom was paid to pirates, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
4 Snap election: Azerbaijan’s president on Monday called a snap presidential election in the ex-Soviet nation. Ilham Aliyev, who has ruled the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation since 2003, was to seek re-election in October, but his office announced that the president ordered an early election to be held on April 11. Azerbaijan’s constitution was amended in 2016 to extend the presidential term from five to seven years. Aliyev’s critics saw the move as effectively cementing a dynastic rule. Aliyev, 56, in office since succeeding his father who died in 2003, has firmly allied the Muslim nation with the West, helping secure its energy and security interests and offset Russia’s influence in the strategic Caspian region.
5 Steel mill deaths: Gas leaking from a pipeline at a steel mill in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong killed eight people and injured 10 others early Monday, authorities reported. The Shaoguan city government said the leak occurred at 3 a.m. at the Shaoguan Iron and Steel company’s Songshan plant. It said the cause of the leak was under investigation. China has made considerable progress in improving industrial safety, but many are still killed annually in the country’s factories, coal mines and transportation networks.
6 Berlin Wall: A recently discovered remnant of the Berlin Wall from the heavily fortified border’s early days is being given protected status, city authorities said Monday. The announcement by the culture ministry came on the day when the wall has been open for as long as it divided Berlin: 28 years, two months and 26 days. An amateur historian found the 260-foot stretch of wall. Most of the wall was demolished starting in 1990, and only a few preserved sections remain.
Chronicle News Services