NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Officers killed: Two men on a motorcycle opened fire on a police station in the southern Philippines, killing two officers and wounding two others in a remote province long plagued by terrorism, police said Sunday. Investigator Nizar Bakun said one of the suspects armed with an M16 rifle fired at least seven times at the police station in Parang in Sulu province Saturday night then fled. Two of four police who were hit in the attack died on the way to a hospital. Bakun said the attackers have not been identified, but Abu Sayyaf militants and local drug traffickers were among the main suspects.
2 Mexico slaying: A judge has ordered a police officer who fatally shot a 16yearold Mexican American boy to be held in preventive detention while he is investigated for alleged murder. The boy, Alexander Martinez Gomez, was shot in the head in southern Oaxaca state on Tuesday. Born in North Carolina, he had been living with his mother in Acatlan de Perez Figueroa and was out with friends at the time of the shooting. The officer was in a patrol driving with its lights off when it blocked the way of the boy and eight other youths on motorcycles, according to prosecutors. The officer then got out with a shotgun and opened fire, they said. Relatives have met with representatives of the state government, which has promised the killing will not go unpunished.
3 Fire memorial: Britain marked the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower apartment block fire with a virtual church service Sunday to remember the 72 people who died in the blaze. A small kitchen fire in the west London publichousing block turned into the worst domestic blaze in the country since World War II. The fire spread rapidly and engulfed the 24story building, shocking the nation and prompting a widespread investigation into lowcost, flammable cladding at highrise buildings. A public inquiry into the disaster was paused in March because of the coronavirus pandemic and is due to restart in July. Police have said that no one is likely to face criminal charges until 2021.
4 Dam dispute: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia said Sunday they would resume talks this week over a contentious, massive Nile dam, even as Egypt accused Ethiopia of trying to hinder progress on resolving disagreements over the project. The construction of the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, which is more than 70% complete and promises to provide muchneeded electricity to Ethiopia’s 100 million people, has been a friction point between the three main Nile Basin countries. Talks came to a halt in February when Ethiopia rejected a U.S.crafted deal and accused the Trump administration of siding with Egypt, which is concerned the dam could significantly reduce its share of Nile water. The Blue Nile flows from Ethiopia into Sudan, where it joins the White Nile to form the Nile River.
5 Iraq attacks: Two rockets hit an Iraqi base frequented by U.S. troops north of Baghdad late Saturday without causing any casualties, Iraq’s military said, the third such attack this month and just days after Washington and Baghdad began strategic talks. The Katyusha rockets struck Camp Taji and caused minor damage but no injuries, according to the Iraqi military. In March, two Americans and one British soldier were killed after a barrage of rocket strikes on Camp Taji, which has been used as a training base. The first session of the muchanticipated strategic talks between the U.S. and Iraq began Thursday, and is to lay the agenda for the months ahead, including the presence of U.S. troops in the country, Iranbacked militia groups acting outside of the state and Iraq’s dire economic crisis.