FIRED FBI CHIEF COMEY TO TESTIFY PUBLICLY IN CONGRESS
WASHINGTON: James Comey, the former FBI chief fired by President Donald Trump, has agreed to publicly testify about Russian interference in the US elections, as fresh allegations increased pressure on the American leader. Comey will testify in open session of the Senate Intelligence Committee at some point after the Memorial Day holiday, May 29, though a date has not yet been set. The ex-FBI chief has not spoken publicly since his surprise firing last week. "I am hopeful that he will clarify for the American people recent events that have been broadly reported in the media," panel Chairman Richard Burr said in a statement. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, said he expects Comey to "shed light on issues critical to this Committee's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election." However, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Comey declined their invitation to testify before the panel over the circumstances surrounding his abrupt removal.
141 KILLED IN SOUTH LIBYA AIRBASE ATTACK
TRIPOLI: An attack on an airbase in south Libya has killed 141 people, mostly soldiers loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar, a spokesman for his forces said on Friday ( Saturday in Manila). Members of the Third Force militia loyal to the UN- backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli on Thursday attacked the base used by Haftar's self- proclaimed Libyan National Army ( LNA), military sources said earlier. LNA spokesman Ahmad al- Mesmari late Friday said the victims included civilians who worked at the Brak al- Shati airbase or were in the nearby area, also reporting that summary executions took place. He said that "the soldiers were returning from a military parade. They weren't armed. Most of them were executed." The GNA said in a statement late Friday a commission of inquiry had been set up to investigate the attack. It said it had decided to suspend its defense minister, al- Mahdi al- Barghati, and
FIVE KILLED IN INDONESIA BOAT FIRE
JAKARTA: At least five people were killed when a boat carrying nearly 200 people caught fire in Indonesia, rescuers said on Saturday. The vessel caught fire on Friday afternoon in the waters off the main Java island, prompting the captain to order people to abandon the boat, the national disaster management agency said. The agency said the fire might have caused by a short circuit in one of the trucks carried on board. Rescuers have evacuated 141 people and recovered five bodies in the incident, the local chief of the search and rescue agency, Mochammad Arifin said. Authorities were checking the manifest to determine whether anyone else was missing, Arifin said. Boat accidents are common in Indonesia, a vast network of islands that relies heavily on water transport. In January, 23 Indonesian tourists were killed when a massive fire erupted in a boat carrying hundreds of people to an island north of Jakarta to celebrate the New Year.
AFGHAN VP DOSTUM DEPARTS FOR TURKEY AMID RAPE PROBE
KABUL: Afghanistan's embattled vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum has left for Turkey, officials said on Saturday, in what could be another long exile for the former warlord following allegations that he raped and tortured a political rival. Dostum departed late Friday in the middle of a criminal investigation that has drawn attention to the culture of impunity that is hobbling Western-backed efforts to instill the rule of law in Afghanistan. Speculation is rife that he has sought temporary exile in Turkey in a bid to escape prosecution. But a spokesman for Dostum, Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj, insisted that he would return after visiting Turkey for "medical checkups and to visit his family." Dostum is accused of abducting rival Ahmad Ishchi last year during a game of Buzkashi—a type of polo played with an animal carcass—in northern Jowzjan province. Dostum, 63, allegedly kept Ishchi hostage in his private compound for five days, where he was said to be tortured and sodomized, an accusation that Dostum has denied.