NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Malaysia politics: New Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Monday that the attorney general has been told to go on leave pending an investigation of his role in allegedly covering up a massive corruption scandal involving ousted leader Najib Razak. The government also announced that the head of the country’s treasury has been relieved of his duties. The 1MDB state fund set up by Najib is being investigated in the United States and several other countries. Anger over the scandal helped Mahathir’s alliance score a stunning election victory last week, ending the 60year rule of Najib’s coalition. U.S. investigators say Najib’s associates stole $4.5 billion from the fund. Over the weekend, Mahathir barred Najib and his wife from leaving the country. _2 Diplomatic dispute: A U.S. diplomat who killed a Pakistani motorcyclist in a road accident last month left the country Monday after getting clearance from authorities. U.S. military attache Col. Joseph Emanuel Hall was allowed to leave the capital Islamabad and head home, three officials told the Associated Press. The development comes days after Pakistan sent back an American plane, delaying the return of Hall. Hall ran a red light and hit motorcyclist Attique Baig last month but was not arrested as he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.
_3 Australia slayings: A 61-year-old farmer is suspected of carrying out Australia’s worst mass shooting in two decades, killing six family members, including four of his grandchildren, before turning the gun on himself last week, an official said Monday. Police found Peter Miles, his 58-yearold wife, their 35-year-old daughter and her four children with fatal gunshot wounds Friday at their home in the village of Osmington in Western Australia state. State Premier Mark McGowan confirmed that Peter Miles was the suspected perpetrator. “Why he did it, what he did, you can only ever surmise,” McGowarn said. _4 Armenia leader: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday met with Armenia’s new prime minister in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Nikol Pashinian, an opposition figure who spearheaded weeks of nationwide protests, was elected to the post by parliament last week. Landlocked Armenia hosts an important Russian military base and has been reliant on Russia’s cheap energy supplies. After meeting with Putin, Pashinian vowed to “give a new impetus” to Armenia’s relations with Russia and said “no one has ever doubted” that Russia is a strategic ally for his country. _5 Paris knife attack: French police on Monday questioned the parents and a friend of a 20-year-old man who attacked passers-by with a knife in Paris. Khamzat Azimov, a French citizen born in the Russian republic of Chechnya, killed one person and wounded four others in Saturday’s attack, before police fatally shot him. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Azimov’s parents and a friend from the eastern city of Strasbourg were being detained by police. Counterterrorism investigators want to know if the assailant had help or co-conspirators. French authorities said the suspect was on a police watch list for radicalism. Conservative leader Laurent Wauquiez criticized the government’s “blindness” and “inaction.” His Republican party called on President Emmanuel Macron to take measures to “preventively intern the most dangerous individuals” listed as radicalized.