NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Britain resignation: Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigned late Sunday amid a national uproar over authorities’ mistreatment of long-term legal residents from the Caribbean. The resignation came hours after Rudd said she would stay in her job to ensure Britain’s immigration policy is “humane.” But opposition politicians demanded that she step down. The furor has grown since the Guardian newspaper reported that some people who came to the United Kingdom from the Caribbean in the decades after World War II had recently been refused medical care in Britain or threatened with deportation because they could not produce paperwork proving their right to reside in the country.
_2 Myanmar refugees: A U.N. Security Council team visiting Bangladesh promised Sunday to work to resolve the crisis involving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to the country to escape military-led violence in neighboring Myanmar. The diplomats, who visited sprawling camps near Cox’s Bazar where about 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter, said their tour was an opportunity to see the situation firsthand. The group will leave for Myanmar on Monday. The refugees are seeking U.N. protection to return home. _3 Kabul blasts: A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, killing at least 21 people, including a journalist, and wounding at least 27, officials said. Both suicide attacks took place in the central Shash Darak area, which is also home to the NATO headquarters and a number of embassies in Afghanistan. The second was meant to hit those rushing to the scene of the attack to help the victims of the first blast. The area of Kabul that was targeted includes foreign offices. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both Taliban and Islamic State group are active and have repeatedly claimed attacks in Kabul. _4 Philippines statue: A statue honoring women who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II has been removed from a seaside promenade in the capital, angering activists. Manila City Hall said in a statement that the bronze statue of a blindfolded Filipina, unveiled in December, will be returned once drainage work is completed. It gave no time frame for the project, alarming activists who suspect that the Japanese government pressured the Philippines to remove it. Japan’s minister for internal affairs and communications, Seiko Noda, had expressed regret over the construction of the monument in January. Historians say 20,000 to 200,000 women from across Asia were forced to provide sex to Japan’s frontline soldiers. Japanese nationalists contend that the “comfort women” were voluntary prostitutes, not sex slaves, and that Japan has been unfairly criticized for a practice they say is common in any country at war. _5 Missile attack: A Syria warmonitoring group says an overnight missile attack in the country’s northern region has killed at least 26 progovernment fighters, mostly Iranians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the attack appears to have been carried out by Israel and targeted an arms depot for surface-to-surface missiles at a base in northern Syria known as Brigade 47. The Observatory says four Syrians were also among casualties. Earlier on Monday, Syrian TV reported a “new aggression,” with missiles targeting military outposts in northern Syria.