Violence threatens Zambia’s elections
LUSAKA: Zambia’s main opposition leader says repressive laws are being used to restrict his presidential election campaign.
Hakainde Hichilema said violence by Patriotic Front supporters would prevent Thursday’s polls being free and fair.
But the AU observer mission in the country said political parties were able to campaign despite incidents of violence. – Reuters
US repatriates Cubans
WASHINGTON: The US Coast Guard has repatriated 97 Cuban migrants who were picked up at sea as part of a surge in attempts to reach the US from the Communist-run island.
The Cubans had been sent back since last Sunday and carried aboard three cutters, the Coast Guard said.
They had been picked up in seven interceptions. – Reuters
Flood toll rises
YANGON: The number of flood victims continued to rise in lower parts of Myanmar despite the closure of some relief camps in the upper part of the country, the Department of Relief and Resettlement said yesterday.
So far more than 336 000 people in south-western Ayayawaddy delta region have been displaced by the floods. – Xinhua
Flash floods kill 15
SKOPJE: At least 15 people died and six more were missing after heavy rains triggered flash floods in and around the Macedonian capital on Saturday evening.
A large section of the ring road around Skopje was swept away and cars were carried into nearby fields. Suburban homes were flooded and there were flash floods in the city centre. – Reuters
Kenya official recalled
NAIROBI: The manager of the Kenyan Olympic athletics team, Michael Rotich, has been recalled after an allegation that he demanded money to give warnings about doping tests. An investigation by the Sunday Times and German television channel ARD is a new blow to Kenya’s sports reputation. – Xinhua
Snoop Dogg fans hurt
CAMDEN: More than 40 concertgoers were injured on Friday night when a railing collapsed at an amphitheatre where rapper Snoop Dogg was performing in Camden, New Jersey, officials said.
One person sustained serious injuries and was in stable condition at a local hospital; others had broken bones. – Reuters
Online health issues
LONDON: As more sick patients go online and use social media to search for answers about their health, it’s raising thorny ethical questions for doctors.
Ready access to vast amounts of information affects how people deal with health problems, says Dr Chris Feudtner, a director of medical ethics – Reuters
Will Smith in Dubai
DUBAI: Will Smith was in the Middle East yesterday promoting the movie Suicide Squad, but said his time in Dubai was a chance to counter an increasingly anti-Muslim climate surrounding the US presidential race.
Smith had fun tweeting pictures showing “it doesn’t look like they hate me, right?”.
Scientist executed
DUBAI: Iran has executed a nuclear scientist who was detained in 2010 when he returned home from the US. A court convicted Sharam Amiri of spying for Washington and sentenced him to death. This was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court. – Reuters BRUSSELS: The Islamic State group yesterday claimed responsibility for a weekend machete attack that wounded two policewomen in the Belgian city of Charleroi, calling it an act of reprisal carried out by one of its “soldiers”.
Belgian prosecutors identified the machete-wielding assailant as a 33-year-old Algerian known to police for criminal offences, but not for extremist acts.
The attack on Saturday afternoon was being treated as a terrorist incident, notably because the man shouted “Allahu akbar!” – Arabic for “God is great” – as he slashed at the officers outside Charleroi’s main police station, Prime Minister Charles Michel said.
The assailant, shot by a third officer, died later in a hospital.
A statement by the IS-affiliated Aamaq News Agency, posted yesterday on an ISlinked Twitter account, said the attack on the policewomen was in response to the “Crusader coalition’s” military campaign against IS and its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
Belgium, a long-time ally, is a member of the American-led coalition combating IS, and has supplied warplanes to participate in anti-IS operations.
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said the attacker, who it identified only as KB, had lived in Belgium since 2012. As terrorism seems a motive, the office has taken over the investigation. – Reuters