NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Refugee crisis: Top Italian and European Union officials pledged aid for Tunisia on Monday as part of an effort to stem the growing numbers of migrants crossing from the North African country to Europe. The number has grown as much as fivefold this year compared to last year, for a total of about 5,700 people, according to estimates from the Tunisian Forum of Economic and Social Rights, an aid group. More migrants landing in Italy now come from Tunisia than neighboring lawless Libya, according to Italian government figures.
2 Dam talks: Three key Nile basin countries have resumed online negotiations led by the African Union to resolve a yearslong dispute over a huge hydroelectric dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile near Bameza. Years of talks among Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan with a variety of mediators, including the Trump administration, have failed to produce a solution. The two downstream nations, Egypt and Sudan, have repeatedly insisted Ethiopia must not start filling the reservoir without reaching a deal first. A colonialera pact between Ethiopia and Britain, which at the time controlled Sudan and Egypt, effectively prevents upstream countries from taking any action that would reduce the share of Nile water flowing to Sudan and Egypt.
3 Rebel leader killed: Troops fatally shot a separatist leader in ongoing clashes between security forces and a rebel group in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region, police and rebels said Monday. Hengky Wanmang, a leader of the Free Papua Organization, was shot as he tried to escape Sunday from a raid by military and police on a house believed to be a separatist headquarters in the village of Kalikopi. Papua Police Chief Paulus Waterpauw described Wanmang as a central figure in the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organization. He said Wanmang was responsible for attacks near the giant Grasberg gold and copper mine, operated by PT Freeport Indonesia.
4 Mideast violence: Israeli security guards on Monday shot and wounded a Palestinian who is deaf and couldn’t hear their commands to stop at a West Bank checkpoint, police said, while a suspected Palestinian stabbing attacker was shot and killed in a separate incident in Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the 60yearold man was walking in an area north of Jerusalem where only vehicles are permitted. Rosenfeld said security guards ordered the man to stop but he continued to “approach them suspiciously.” They then opened fire toward his legs, wounding him. Only later did the guards learn that the man did not respond because he “cannot hear or communicate,” Rosenfeld said. Police had previously been asked to amend their open fire guidelines to take into consideration those with disabilities.
5 Royal probe: Spain’s royal household said Monday that former monarch Juan Carlos is in the United Arab Emirates, resolving a mystery over his whereabouts that has swirled since he announced he was leaving the country amid a growing financial scandal. “His Majesty Juan Carlos has indicated to this household to communicate that he traveled to United Arab Emirates on Aug. 3 and that’s where he currently remains,” a spokesman said. In a letter published on the royal family’s website on Aug. 3, Juan Carlos told his son King Felipe VI he was moving outside Spain due to the “public repercussions of certain episodes of my past private life.” Juan Carlos, 82, is the target of official investigations in Spain and Switzerland into possible financial wrongdoing.