NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Murder trial: The murder trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian accused of involvement in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 will be closed to the public and media when it briefly resumes later this month in a Dutch courtroom at The Hague. The decision announced Tuesday to close the March 23 hearing comes after Dutch courts said they would shut down until April 6 for all but urgent cases because of restrictions introduced by the government to fight the spread of the coronavirus. The landmark trial of the suspects in the July 17, 2014, downing of the Boeing 777 over eastern Ukraine began earlier this month in a courtroom packed with visitors, including family members of some of the 298 passengers and crew killed. None of the suspects showed up for the trial, which continued in their absence.
_2 Boko Haram: Niger says its army has killed at least 50 Boko Haram Islamist extremists after an attack on a military post. The West African nation says the heavily armed Boko Haram fighters attacked the eastern Toumour post overnight into Sunday. The government says the army used air and ground forces to fight back, killing at least 50 fighters and destroying a large number of vehicles. One soldier was injured. Boko Haram is based in neighboring Nigeria. Its decadelong insurgency has focused on attacks inside that country, but the extremists also have staged attacks in Niger and Cameroon.
_3 Tom Hanks: The actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, were released from an Australian hospital on Tuesday, five days after they were diagnosed with the new coronavirus, media reported. Queensland state’s health department would not comment on media reports that the 63yearold celebrities had been discharged from the Gold Coast University Hospital to selfisolate in a rented house. The couple arrived in Australia in late January on the Gold Coast, where an Elvis Presley biopic was to be shot. Hanks plays Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The film has suspended production, Warner Bros. said.
_4 Thailand attack: Bombers attacked a major government office in Thailand’s insurgencyplagued far south as hundreds of local officials and Muslim clerics met Tuesday to discuss fighting COVID19. At least 20 people were hurt, none seriously. The Southern Border Provinces Administration Center in the capital of Yala province coordinates government policy in the region where a Muslim separatist insurgency since 2004 has led to the deaths of about 7,000 civilians, soldiers, government workers and rebels. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.Thailand’s three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala are the only ones with Muslim majorities in predominantly Buddhist Thailand. The Thai government has been holding onagain, offagain talks with insurgents brokered by neighboring Malaysia.
_5 Prison break: Hundreds of inmates escaped from at least four prisons in the state of Sao Paulo after local officials canceled their temporary leaves because of fears they could bring the new coronavirus back with them upon their return. Sao Paulo state’s penitentiary administration secretariat said in a statement that 174 inmates have already been recaptured. Brazilian media said more than 1,000 inmates could be on the loose. Reports also say inmates were complaining about restrictions to visitations this weekend, also aimed at containing the virus. A video shot in the city of Mongagua shows hundreds of men running out of a prison that has the capacity to hold about 2,800 inmates. The local government had prohibited the temporary exit from prison of about 34,000 inmates.
Chronicle News Services