NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Islamic State attacks: Indonesian police on Wednesday shot dead four sword-wielding men who attacked a police headquarters in Sumatra, killing one officer, the latest in a spate of militant attacks across the Muslim-majority country. National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said the men attacked officers after driving a minivan into Riau province’s police headquarters. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. Suicide bombings Sunday and Monday in Surabaya, Indonesia’s secondlargest city, killed 26 people, including 13 attackers. Two families carried out the attacks, using children as young as 7. The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for the Surabaya attacks.
_2 Crimea bridge: A longanticipated bridge linking Russia’s Taman Peninsula with Crimea has opened for regular traffic. Car traffic across the 11.8-mile bridge began Wednesday. A parallel railway bridge is set to be finished by the end of 2019. Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the bridge this week across the Kerch Strait to the Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The $3.6-billion project is intended to facilitate links with Crimea, which previously depended on a ferry crossing often interrupted by gales. Ukraine has blocked shipment of supplies via its territory.
_3 Trump lawyer: Novartis says its top lawyer is retiring over the Swiss pharmaceuticals company’s relationship with a firm owned by President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The Basel-based company said general counsel Felix Ehrat was stepping down “in the context of discussions surrounding Novartis’ former agreement with Essential Consultants, owned by Michael Cohen.” Novartis, in a statement Wednesday, quoted Ehrat as saying: “Although the contract was legally in order, it was an error,” and that he took “personal responsibility to bring the public debate on this matter to an end.” _4 Egypt pardons: Egypt’s President AbdelFattah el-Sissi on Wednesday pardoned more than 330 young people, most of whom had been convicted and jailed for their participation in illegal protests. Egypt’s president has the authority to pardon those who have been convicted and cannot appeal their sentences. Authorities in Muslim countries traditionally release prisoners on the eve of the fasting month of Ramadan as a show of mercy. Ramadan begins on Thursday this year. Egypt has waged a massive crackdown on dissent since el-Sissi led the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013 amid mass protests against his yearlong rule. Thousands of people have been jailed, including several prominent secular activists who defied the protest ban. _5 No extradition: A Belgian court rejected a Spanish request for the extradition of three Catalan separatist leaders. The court ruling was the latest in a series of legal disputes between Spain and Belgium, where former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and five others took refuge last year fearing they would face imprisonment at home. The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the court rejected the extradition request for the three because there were no corresponding Spanish arrest orders. Prosecutors say that Spain can’t appeal the decision. Puigdemont is now in Germany fighting extradition to Spain, where he is wanted for allegedly using public funds and orchestrating an “insurrection” to get the wealthy northeastern region around Barcelona to break away from Spain.