World Briefs 42 POLICEMEN DECAPITATED BY CONGO MILITIA

beni, congo» A Congolese militia group has decapitated 42 policemen after ambushing them in an increasingly violent region where the U.N. is searching for missing American and Swedish investigators, a local official said Saturday.

Members of the Kamwina Nsapu militia staged Friday’s attack between the cities of Tshikapa and Kananga, according to Kasai Assembly President Francois Kalamba. The militia members freed six policemen because they spoke the local Tshiluba language, he said.

Large-scale violence erupted in the Kasai region in August when security forces killed the militia’s leader. More than 400 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced since then, according to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

london» The U.K. Independence Party is losing its only member of the British Parliament in a blow to the upstart anti-Europe party, which has seen bitter feuding between its top figures.

Douglas Carswell said Saturday that he’s leaving UKIP and will serve in Parliament as an independent. He said his departure won’t trigger a new election because he isn’t joining another party.

Carswell has been in direct conflict with former party leader Nigel Farage, who played a key role in the successful Brexit campaign, and Arron Banks, the party’s most generous donor. three days.

They said three policemen were killed when their armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb south of Sinai’s coastal city of elArish. Six more policemen were injured in that attack.

Later on Saturday, a policeman manning a checkpoint also south of el-Arish was killed by a sniper’s bullet, they said.

halifax, nova scotia» A Canadian provincial government has withdrawn a man’s eponymous personalized vehicle license plate, saying Lorne Grabher’s surname is offensive to women when viewed on his car bumper.

Grabher said Friday that he put his last name on the license plate decades ago as a gift for his late father’s birthday, and says the province’s refusal to renew the plate late last year is unfair. B phnom penh, cambodia» Eleven endangered wild elephants were rescued in Cambodia on Saturday, four days after getting stuck in a 10-foot-deep mud hole, officials said.

The animals were rescued in northeastern Mondulkiri province, home to about 250 wild elephants.

Authorities said the elephants apparently got stuck in the mud when they went to drink water at the hole, which was left over from U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War.

dili, east timor» A former guerrilla fighter vowed Saturday to keep peace and unity as East Timor’s new president, delivering a victory speech after the final tally showed he was on course to win the election.

Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres received 57 percent of the vote in Monday’s election, according to final figures announced late Friday.

East Timor’s president has a mostly ceremonial role.

The prime minister heads the government.