NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Arrest in maid’s death: One of two suspects in the gruesome death of a Filipina maid whose body was found stuffed in a freezer in an apartment in Kuwait has been arrested, the Philippine foreign secretary said Friday. Lebanese citizen Nader Essam Assaf was arrested in Lebanon. His Syrian wife, who is also a suspect in the death of Joanna Demafelis, remains at large. The discovery of Demafelis’s body on Feb. 6 in a freezer in Kuwait City, where it had reportedly been kept for more than a year, sparked outrage in the Philippines and refocused attention on the tragic plight of poor Filipinos toiling mostly as maids abroad. It prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to ban the deployment of new Filipino workers to Kuwait, where many abuses have been reported. Assaf and his wife employed Demafelis.
2 Deputy premier resigns: Australia’s beleaguered deputy prime minister resigned from the Cabinet on Friday over allegations that he sexually harassed a woman, but said he would not resign from Parliament. By staying in Parliament, Barnaby Joyce ensures that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s single-seat majority in the House of Representatives is maintained. The allegation of sexual harassment adds to scrutiny the married Joyce has faced since news broke this month that he and his former media secretary Vikki Campion are expecting a baby in April. Questions have been raised about her employment in two government jobs after working in Joyce’s office and the rent-free apartment owned by a wealthy political donor where Joyce and Campion now live.
3 Serial killing suspect: Canadian police say they’ve charged a suspected serial killer with one additional charge of murder, bringing the total to six. Toronto police believe there are more victims. Detective Sgt. Hank Idsinga said Friday they have now identified the remains of three of the six men found in planters at a property that Bruce McArthur used as storage for his landscaping business. McArthur was arrested on Jan. 18.
4 Jihadist threat: International donors pledged $510 million Friday to help five impoverished countries in West Africa’s vast Sahel region set up a new counterterror force as a deadly jihadist threat grows. The 5,000-strong G5 Sahel force for Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger was seeking around $490 million for its mission along mostly desert borders, including near Libya — the main jumping-off point for thousands of African migrants bound for Italy. Security has deteriorated in the Sahel since 2011, with extremist attacks a regular occurrence, as fighters but also people seeking better lives in Europe move easily through the porous borders that have an estimated combined length of some 17,500 miles. More than 1,100 people have been killed since 2014, nearly 400 of them last year. Al Qaeda in the Islamic North Africa is considered the most active of around eight groups operating there.