NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Hostage killed: Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry said Friday a Swiss woman held hostage in Mali has been killed by an Islamist group. The ministry said in a statement it was informed by the French authorities that the hostage, whose name wasn’t released, had been “killed by kidnappers of the Islamist terrorist organization Jama’at Nasr alIslam wal Muslim about a month ago.” The group is Mali’s branch of al Qaeda. The exact circumstances of the killing of the Swiss hostage are currently unclear. The ministry said it is trying to find out the whereabouts of the remains. Swiss news media reported that the hostage was a Christian missionary from the northwestern city of Basel.
2 Squatters evicted: Police in heavy riot gear began clearing out a notorious Berlin leftist squat on Friday, encountering only passive resistance from residents as they carried them individually down a firetruck ladder. A police spokesman at the scene, Thilo Cablitz, said 1,500 police had been called out to aid in clearing the Liebig 34 squat in the capital’s Friedrichshain neighborhood, named after its address, Liebigstrasse 34. An armored car sat out in front of the graffitifes tooned building and police kept onlookers at a wide distance. Police entered the building after residents refused to open the door for a court employee to deliver their eviction notice. The building has been partially occupied for 30 years and subject to many court battles before the residents were finally ordered out of the apartments they had taken over.
3 Surfer vanishes: A surfer vanished in a suspected shark attack on Friday off the Australian southwest coast, police said. A surfboard was found near the town of Esperance and a search was under way for the man who had been riding it. Ambulance officers reported the suspected shark attack at Kelp Beds Beach. A 17yearold girl was killed by a shark at the same spot in 2017. In 2014, a 23yearold man was also attacked by a shark off the beach, losing his arm and other hand.
4 Iran sanctions: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday called on the international community to condemn the Trump administration’s decision to blacklist Iran’s financial sector, the country’s official news agency reported. The U. S. move on Thursday hit 18 Iranian banks that had so far escaped the bulk of reimposed U. S. sanctions and, more importantly, subjects foreign, non Iranian financial institutions to penalties for doing business with them. Thus, it effectively cuts them off from the international financial system. Washington’s move will deepen tensions with European nations and others. European countries have opposed the blanket financial services blacklisting because it will open up their biggest banks and other companies to U. S. penalties for conducting business with Iran that had previously been allowed.
5 Ethiopia unrest: A security official in Ethiopia’s Western Benishangul Gumuz region says an attack this week killed 14 civilians and security forces killed 14 militia members. This is the latest deadly militia attack in the region. Two earlier attacks in recent weeks reportedly killed several dozen people. Ethiopian troops and members of the federal and regional police are currently deployed in the region near Ethiopia’s massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Some parts of the region are under a military command post following the attacks. A resident said ethnic minorities in the region, Amhara and Agaws, were the targets and people fear the attacks may continue. Ethnic tensions in Ethiopia are one of the main challenges for Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.