NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Somalia air strike: The U.S. military says it has carried out an air strike outside Somalia’s capital that killed 12 alShabab extremists. The U.S. Africa Command has carried out at least 15 such air strikes this year against the al Qaedalinked militants, which continues to hold some rural areas of the Horn of Africa nation. Dozens of U.S. air strikes were carried out last year after the Trump administration approved expanded military operations against al-Shabab, which was blamed for an October truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more than 500 people. The U.S. military said no civilians were killed in Thursday’s strike about 30 miles southwest of Mogadishu. The U.S. has faced accusations in recent months of killing civilians in joint operations with Somali forces against al-Shabab. _2 Activists released: A former Venezuelan official said Friday the nation is releasing 39 jailed activists who government opponents consider to be political prisoners in a gesture aimed at uniting the fractured nation. Among them are former mayor Daniel Ceballos, who had been detained for four years for promoting protests in the western city of San Cristobal, according to Venezuela’s Supreme Court. President Nicolas Maduro had said after being re-elected in May that he wanted to reconcile the fractured nation. It’s unclear whether officials will release opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who remains detained in his home. Human rights groups say Venezuela illegally jails hundreds of people. _3 Terror suspect: A man arrested alongside the Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has been formally charged in Belgium with participation in terrorist activities in a case that sheds light on the scale and ambition of the Islamic State network that killed more than 150 people in the French and Belgian capitals in recent years. Belgian prosecutors formally charged Sofien Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, this week with “participation in the activities of a terrorist organization” in relation to attacks on the Brussels airport and subway that left more than 30 people dead. The overall investigation involves some 40 suspects, official police records show, of whom 14 are dead and 16 under arrest in France or Belgium, with several others held abroad and at least two still being sought. _4 Libya fighting: The United Nations says fighting between the self-styled Libyan National Army and militants has killed at least 17 civilians, including two children, in Libya’s eastern city of Derna. The LNA, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, has surrounded the city of 150,000 people for years. Clashes have been ongoing since April. Hifter announced his intention to “liberate” Derna in May. Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled ruler Moammar Khadafy. _5 Ebola vaccine: More than 680 people have received Ebola vaccinations in the three health zones where dozens of cases of the deadly virus have been confirmed, Congo’s health ministry said. Health experts are pushing to find contacts of those infected, having already located more than 1,000. Nearly 500 people have been vaccinated in Mbandaka, the 1.2 million-population provincial capital of northwest Equateur province, since May 21, the health ministry said late Thursday. More than 110 have been vaccinated in rural Bikoro, where the outbreak began, and 70 in the even more remote Iboko. There have been 37 confirmed Ebola cases, including 12 deaths. There are another 13 probable cases, according to the health ministry.