NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Poisoned dissident: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Monday confirmed reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited him in a Berlin hospital where he was being treated for what German authorities determined was nerve agent poisoning. German magazine Der Spiegel reported that Merkel had made a visit to Navalny when he was at the Charite hospital in Berlin. Navalny spent 32 days in the hospital, 24 of them in intensive care, before doctors deemed his condition had improved sufficiently for him to be discharged last week. He will remain in Germany for the time being to continue his rehabilitation, his team said. Navalny, who is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic, was flown to Germany two days after falling ill on Aug. 20 on a domestic flight in Russia. Navalny’s allies accused the Kremlin of involvement in the poisoning, charges Russian officials have denied.
2 Mexico violence: Gunmen killed 11 people, including four women, in a bar in the central state of Guanajuato. State prosecutors said the bulletridden bodies were found Sunday at a bar near the town of Jaral del Progreso. The area has been a point of incursion for the Jalisco cartel, which wants to move into Guanajuato. The state has been the most violent in Mexico in recent years, but authorities had hoped the detention of a leader of a local gang on Aug. 2 would help stem the bloodshed.
3 Mali politics: Bah N’Daw, Mali’s transitional president, has appointed former minister of foreign affairs, Moctar Ouane, as the nation’s prime minister. The appointment of a civilian prime minister was a major condition imposed by the West African regional economic bloc, ECOWAS, to lift sanctions that were imposed after an Aug. 18 coup. N’Daw was inducted Friday as the new transitional president while Col. Assimi Goita, head of the junta that staged the coup, was installed as Mali’s new vice president. The three government heads are to lead the transitional government to an election in 18 months.
4 Mediterranean tensions: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday the United States will use its diplomatic and military influence in the region to try to ease a volatile dispute between NATO allies Greece and Turkey over energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Pompeo began a fiveday regional tour Monday in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, days after Greece and Turkey committed to restarting a diplomatic dialogue on the dispute that triggered fears of military conflict in the disputed maritime area. Turkey sent a research vessel, accompanied by warships, to prospect for energy resources in an area Greece claims is on its own continental shelf and where it claims exclusive economic rights. Athens sent warships of its own to the area. Pompeo’s tour will also include Italy, the Vatican and Croatia. 5 Iraq attack: Five civilians were killed and two severely wounded Monday when a Katyusha rocket hit near Baghdad’s airport, Iraq’s military said. The rocket targeted the airport but struck a home close by instead. The dead included three children and two women. A statement from the military described the attack as a “cowardly crime” perpetrated by “criminal gangs.” The attacks have become a frequent occurrence, often targeting the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad within the heavily fortified Green Zone, along with U.S. troops at Iraqi bases. The frequency of the rockets has strained IraqU.S. relations, prompting the Trump administration last week to threaten to close its diplomatic mission in Baghdad if Shiite militia groups believed to be orchestrating them are not subdued.