NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Space debris: Chinese space authorities say the defunct Tiangong 1 space station mostly burned up on re-entry Monday into the atmosphere over the central South Pacific. The China Manned Space Engineering Office said the space laboratory re-entered around 8:15 a.m. Scientists monitoring the craft had forecast most of it would burn up and pose only the slightest of risks to people. Analysis from the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showed it had mostly burned up. Earlier forecasts had said only about 10 percent of the bus-size, 8.5-ton spacecraft would probably survive re-entry.
_2 Deadly avalanche: Three skiers were killed and two others injured in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps, police said Sunday. The slide hit the group of five skiers Saturday in Valais canton. The group had set off from an Alpine hut to cross the famed Aletsch Glacier in southern Switzerland. Police said the victims were citizens of Spain.
_3 Mexico prison riot: Six police officers died Sunday from smoke inhalation after prisoners started a fire while resisting an effort to transfer inmates out of a prison in Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities said. Veracruz Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes said a seventh person died, but it was unclear whether he was an inmate or prison guard. Seven inmates were injured, two seriously, and 15 police officers were hospitalized in the clash at the La Toma prison in Amatlan de los Reyes.
_4 Somalia violence: Heavily armed al-Shabab Islamic extremists attacked a base for African Union troops in Somalia’s south on Sunday, killing four Ugandan peacekeepers, said Ugandan army spokesman Brig. Richard Karemire. Four other Ugandans were injured, while at least 22 of the attackers were killed and the rest were repelled, he said. The attack started when two suicide car bombs exploded at the entrance to the base in Bulo-Marer in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, said Somali army Col. Ahmed Hassan. Almost 100 militants attacked the base occupied by the Ugandan soldiers. Residents reported explosions and sustained gunfire, sending hundreds of terrified villagers fleeing.
_5 Venezuela fire: Five police officials are suspected of being responsible for a blaze that killed 68 people in a police station jail last week and have been detained, Venezuela’s chief prosecutor said. Tarek William Saab said Saturday that the officials are believed “responsible for the tragic events that caused the death of 68 citizens” but provided no further details. Among the detained is Jose Luis Rodriguez, subdirector of the station in Valencia where a fire tore through cells holding about 200 prisoners. Relatives and rights advocates have been pressing the government to provide a full account of what happened at the station Wednesday. As the nation plunges into one of the most severe economic contractions in modern Latin American history, prisoner rights advocates say the already dire conditions within jails and prisons have become even worse. _6 Concert diplomacy: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watched a rare performance Sunday by South Korean pop stars visiting Pyongyang, media reports said, amid thawing ties between the rivals after more than a year of heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear program. The trip by a South Korean artistic group including K-pop singers comes before Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village on April 27 and with President Trump in May in summits.