Nation and World Glance
Rebels kill Yemen’s strongman Saleh as alliance collapses
SANAA, Yemen — Yemeni rebels killed their erstwhile ally Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s former president and strongman, as their forces battled for control of the capital, Sanaa, officials said. The collapse of their alliance throws Yemen’s nearly 3-year-old civil war into unpredictable new chaos.
The circumstances of Saleh’s death were unclear but Houthi officials said their forces caught up with him as he tried to flee Sanaa.
A video circulating online purported to show Saleh’s body, his eyes open but glassy, motionless with a gaping head wound, as he was being carried in a blanket by rebel fighters chanting “God is great” who then dump him into a pickup truck. Blood stained his shirt under a dark suit.
It was a grisly end for a figure who was able to rule the impoverished and unstable country for more than three decades and remained a powerhouse even after he was ousted in a 2011 Arab Spring uprising. His death recalled another Arab leader killed in the midst of his own country’s uprising, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, whose body was shown in a video being abused by rebels who killed in him 2011.
Mattis seeks more cooperation with Pakistan on terror fight
ISLAMABAD — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pressed top Pakistani leaders Monday to “redouble” efforts to go after insurgents operating in safe havens, the Pentagon said, underscoring a long frustration with Islamabad over Taliban-linked militants that freely cross the border to conduct attacks against the U.S. and allies in Afghanistan.
Both sides released comments saying that the U.S. and Pakistan want to continue to work together and that Islamabad plays a key role in the struggle for peace in Afghanistan.
In brief comments before their meeting, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said his country is committed to the war on terror and shares the same common objectives as the U.S.
Lawyer: Police officer to plead guilty in task force scandal
BALTIMORE — The lawyer for a fifth Baltimore police officer accused in a gun task force conspiracy says his client will plead guilty in the case.
Gary Proctor tells The Baltimore Sun that his client, Sgt. Thomas Allers, will enter a guilty plea on Wednesday in federal court in Baltimore. Court records show the 49-yearold Allers is scheduled for a rearraignment hearing at which a defendant typically changes his plea. Allers is charged with racketeering conspiracy and robbery.
Allers is the former head of the Gun Trace Task Force. Eight members of that unit have been indicted on charges that include robbery, extortion, and selling drugs seized during police operations.
Malta announces 10 arrests in journalist’s car bomb killing
VALLETTA, Malta — Ten Maltese suspects were arrested Monday over the car bomb slaying of a prominent investigative journalist, the prime minister and other authorities said, about six weeks after the assassination that shocked Malta and drew European Union pressure to ensure rule of law here.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, whose reporting focused heavily on corruption on the EU island nation, was killed Oct. 16 when a bomb destroyed her car as she was driving near her home.
Eight Maltese citizens were arrested because of a “reasonable suspicion” of their involvement in Caruana Galizia’s killing, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told reporters at a news conference. Shortly afterward, he tweeted that two others had been arrested.
The two additional suspects are also Maltese, Home Minister Michael Farrugia said. Authorities didn’t announce the names of those in custody.
Russian court keeps theater director under house arrest
MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Monday ruled that a prominent theater and film director who is being investigated for fraud must remain under house arrest.
Kirill Serebrennikov, arguably Russia’s best known director, was detained and put under house arrest in August in a criminal case that raised fears of a return to Soviet-style censorship.
Serebrennikov’s plays have often been targeted by conservative circles, which dismiss his work as decadent and unpatriotic.
The court ruled Monday Serebrennikov should stay under house arrest at least until late January, rejecting a plea for bail.
EU, UK leaders fail to get Brexit deal, remain optimistic
BRUSSELS — The European Union and Britain ended a flurry of top-level diplomacy on Monday without a deal on the terms of their divorce, as agreement on how to maintain an open Irish border after Brexit slipped out of the negotiators’ grasp.
But the two sides said they were within striking distance of consensus, setting up a hectic negotiating rush ahead of next week’s EU summit which must decide whether to broaden the talks to the topic of future relations.