San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
NEWS OF THE DAY
_1 Egypt price hikes: Egypt announced Saturday steep increases in fuel and cooking gas prices as part of the country’s effort to overhaul its ailing economy. Authorities also raised transportation fares by up to 20 percent, according to state-run news agency MENA. The hikes will save up to $2.8 billion from funds allocated for state subsidies in the country’s 2018-19 budget, Oil Minister Tarek el-Molla said. The increases came as Egyptians have been celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that comes at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Authorities probably fear the hikes could cause protests. Egypt’s economy is still recovering from unrest after the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. _2 Venezuela brawl: At least 17 people were killed Saturday after a nightclub brawl in the capital of Caracas led to a stampede, officials said. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said eight minors were among the killed. An additional five people were injured. A tear gas device exploded after the fight broke out during a graduation celebration at Los Cotorros club in the middle-class neighborhood of El Paraiso, prompting the stampede of more than 500 people, Reverol said. He also said seven people were arrested, including the owner of the club and the person who is believed to have ignited the explosive device. Most of the injured were being treated at hospitals, and one minor was in serious condition. _3 Python death: A 23-foot-long python swallowed a woman in central Indonesia, a village official said Saturday. Wa Tiba, 54, went missing while checking her vegetable garden on Muna island on Thursday, according to the village chief, Faris. Her family first found her belongings, including sandals and a flashlight, and then found the snake with a bloated belly about 50 yards away. “When they cut open the snake’s belly they found Tiba’s body still intact with all her clothes,” Faris said. Reports of humans being killed by pythons are extremely rare. But this was the second death blamed on a python attack in Indonesia since last year. _4 Severe storm: Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Carlotta pounded Mexico’s Pacific coast near Acapulco on Saturday. Carlotta was expected to make landfall by early Sunday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The storm, packing winds of 50 mph, threatens torrential rains for the coastline of the southern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, with up to 10 inches possible in some areas.
_5 Afghanistan attack: A suicide bomber blew himself up in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday as mostly Taliban fighters gathered to celebrate a three-day cease-fire marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, killing 21 people and wounding another 41, said police in Nangarhar province. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but the Islamic State affiliate, which did not sign on to the ceasefire, has a strong presence in the area.
_6 Greece politics: Lawmakers on Saturday rejected a no-confidence motion in the government brought by the main opposition party over a deal to change the name of Macedonia and end a decades-old dispute with Greece’s northern neighbor. Lawmakers voted 153-127 against the motion to oust the left-led government over the deal renaming the former Yugoslav republic North Macedonia. The deal seeks to end a dispute that has roiled the two countries’ relations since Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.