NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Mosque attack: Militants stormed a packed Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during Friday prayers, in an attack that lasted for hours and ended with at least 20 worshipers killed and another 50 seriously wounded, many of them children, an official said. Two of the assailants blew themselves up and another two were shot to death by Afghan security forces, according to Kabul police. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest to target Afghanistan’s minority Shiites. The Taliban condemned the violence.
2 Venezuela sanctions: The Trump administration on Friday slapped sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela, barring banks from any new financial deals with the government or state-run oil giant PDVSA. The sanctions Trump signed by executive order are bound to dramatically escalate tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. and exacerbate the country’s economic crisis. The actions prohibit dealings in new debt and equity issued by the government of Venezuela and its state oil company. But they stop short of cutting off U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil that are crucial both to Venezuela’s economy and U.S. oil refiners. Last month the Trump administration promised to take strong economic actions if President Nicolas Maduro’s increasingly authoritarian government went ahead with plans to create a constitutional assembly consisting of government loyalists.
3 Yemen air strikes: Saudiled coalition fighter jets rained bombs on the capital, Sanaa, on Friday leveling houses packed with civilians and killing at least 14 people, including eight members of a single family, relatives and witnesses said. The bombing was the latest in a significant escalation in the coalition’s air campaign in Yemen. On Wednesday, at least 41 people died when aircraft bombed a small hotel north of Sanaa. Over the past two years, more than 10,000 people have been killed and 3 million displaced amid the coalition’s relentless air campaign against Iran-backed Shiite rebels. The Saudi-led campaign is seeking to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government back to power.
4 Angola election: The ruling party won the national election, the electoral commission said Friday, as the oil-rich but impoverished African nation faces its first change of leadership after nearly four decades. Defense Minister Joao Lourenco will replace President Jose Eduardo dos Santos after 38 years in power. The victory for the ruling MPLA party — it won 61 percent of the vote — represents continuity, though some observers hope Lourenco, a dos Santos loyalist who has pledged to fight widespread corruption, will work on transparency despite an entrenched elite that includes the dos Santos family.
5 Samsung chief imprisoned: A South Korean court sentenced the billionaire chief of Samsung to five years in prison for crimes that helped topple the country’s president, a stunning downfall that could freeze up decision making at a global electronics powerhouse long run like a monarchy. The Seoul Central District Court said Friday that Lee Jae-yong, 49, was guilty of offering bribes to Park Geun-hye when she was South Korea’s president, and to Park’s close friend, to get government support for efforts to cement his control over the Samsung empire. The revelations that led to Lee’s arrest in February fed public outrage which contributed to Park’s removal.