NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Mexico quake: A Christmas day earthquake shook southern Mexico. There were no immediate reports of damage. Monday’s temblor was centered near the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco, where the shaking was felt strongly and many people left their homes. Civil defense chief Sabas de la Rosa Camacho said some shopping malls were evacuated after the temblor. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the quake had a magnitude of 4.7 and its epicenter was 26 miles north-northeast of Acapulco. It also triggered the seismic alarm system in Mexico City, where nerves are still raw from a Sept. 19 quake that killed 369 people including 228 in the capital. Another deadly earthquake hit farther south in Mexico earlier that month.
_2 Pardon in Peru: Peru’s president announced Sunday night that he granted a medical pardon to jailed former strongman Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads. President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski released a statement on Christmas Eve saying he decided to free Fujimori for “humanitarian reasons,” citing doctors who had determined the ex-leader suffers from incurable and degenerative problems. The 79-year-old Fujimori, who governed from 1990 to 2000, is a polarizing figure in Peru. Some Peruvians laud him for defeating the Maoist Shining Path guerrilla movement, while others loathe him for human rights violations carried out under his government and some human rights groups quickly criticized the pardon.
_3 Teen ousts father: The eldest son of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines resigned his post as the vice mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao on Monday after his teenage daughter implied he had beaten her, prompting an all-out social media war between the two. Paolo Duterte quit his job just days after deadly floods and a large building fire struck Davao, the largest city on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The city is a stronghold of President Duterte, who gained his national reputation for being tough on the drug trade during his long tenure there as mayor. In announcing his resignation Monday to the City Council, Paolo Duterte cited the social media fight, as well as his failed marriage to Lovelie Sangkola, the teenager’s mother, and recent accusations tying him to a crime ring.
_4 Afghanistan attack: A suicide bomber struck Monday near an office of the Afghan intelligence service in the capital, Kabul, killing at least six people, including a woman in a passing vehicle, officials said. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said another three people were wounded in the attack, adding that the exact target was unclear. “The bomber was on foot and detonated his suicide vest on the main road,” he said. Both the Taliban and the local Islamic State affiliate have carried out several past attacks in the capital, mainly targeting security forces.
_5 Arrest in journalist’s death: Mexican authorities have arrested a man suspected of ordering the March killing of journalist Miroslava Breach, a correspondent for the national newspaper La Joranada. The National Security Commission said in a statement that the 43-year-old suspect was detained along with two others Monday morning in the town of Bacobampo, Sonora state. It identified him as the head of a criminal gang with a strong presence in parts of Sonora and Chihuahua states.
Chronicle News Services