NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
North Korean deported: Malaysian authorities on Friday deported the only North Korean detained in the killing of the half brother of North Korea’s leader, and issued an arrest warrant for another whose whereabouts are unknown. Ri Jong Chol was released because of a lack of evidence to charge him and was deported for not having valid travel documents. Police never said what they believed Ri’s role was in the attack on Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport. Malaysia is looking for seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom are believed to have left the country on Feb. 13, the day Kim died. Two other people remain in custody, both women — one Indonesian, one Vietnamese — accused of smearing Kim’s face with VX, a banned nerve agent.
Refugees rescued: The spokesman for the Libyan coast guard says 115 refugees have been rescued off Libyan shores, and 25 others have gone missing as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean. Ayoub Gassim said the refugees left Tripoli on Friday and later sent a distress call. The coast guard rescued 115 people, including six women, from the sinking boat. A total of 140 refugees were on board, he said. Gassim said the coast guard has rescued more than 2,000 refugees this year.
Drone strike: A Taliban official said Friday that a suspected U.S. drone strike the previous day killed a top commander of the militant Haqqani network — the man who in 2014 accompanied U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to a helicopter in Afghanistan when he was handed over to U.S. authorities. The Taliban official identified the man as Qari Abdullah, saying he died in the “area of Khost.” Bergdahl, who faces a court martial hearing on charges of desertion and misbehavior in front of the enemy, was freed in exchange for five Taliban who had been held at the U.S prison on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002.
Journalist killed: Mexican authorities said Friday that a journalist was slain in the troubled southern state of Guerrero. The state prosecutor’s office said Cecilio Pineda Birto was shot dead Thursday evening in Ciudad Altamirano. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for media professionals. According to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 37 have been killed there since 1992 for motives confirmed as directly related to their work.
Ex-Haitian leader dies: Rene Preval, the only democratically elected president of Haiti to win and complete two terms, has died at age 74. Current President Jovenel Moise confirmed Preval’s death in a tweet Friday. Preval, who had been treated for prostate cancer, was elected in 1995 as the chosen successor of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He turned power back over to Aristide when he left office five years later. His second term, which started in 2006, was marred by the disastrous earthquake of 2010, which reportedly killed more than 310,000 people and displaced more than 1 million. Many Haitians accused him of a fumbling response to the tragedy. WWII bomb: British Army bomb disposal team has been called in to dispose of a 500-pound World War II bomb found buried on a building site in northwest London. Experts from the Army’s Royal Engineers worked from early Friday to make the German bomb safe. London was heavily bombed in the war, especially during the Blitz of 1940 and 1941 which concentrated on civilian and industrial targets. Unexploded devices are still occasionally uncovered.