More than 1 million Syrians flee to Lebanon – UN
The number of Syrians registered as refugees in Lebanon after fleeing
war has surpassed 1 million, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday.
Refugees from Syria, half of them children, now equal a quarter of
Lebanon’s resident population, AFP reported, citing a UNHCR statement.
The UN agency described the figure as “a devastating milestone worsened by rapidly depleting resources and a host community stretched to breaking point.” Most of the refugees live in poverty and depend on aid for survival.
Suicide bombers kill 15 in Nigeria oil facility attack
Suspected Islamist suicide bombers, believed to be from militant
group Boko Haram, killed 15 civilians in a failed attack on a state oil
company facility in northeast Nigeria, Reuters said. Seventeen civilians
and five soldiers were also wounded by the blasts on Tuesday when
soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire on explosives-packed vehicles,
Defense Ministry spokesman Chris Olukolade said. Four bombers died as
they were driving towards the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
facility at Mule.
Former Pakistan president unharmed after major blast
The former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, escaped injury
after a massive explosion hit the Faizabad flyover in the North West of
Pakistan. The 70-year-old was traveling in a convoy early in the
morning, when 6kg of explosives shook the intersection, which is the
most modern in the country and helps to alleviate traffic between the
capital, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi. The former general was being taken
from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology to his farmhouse 25km
away. The bomb was planted in a near-by pipeline near a sidewalk though
no casualties have been reported.
6.4 aftershock hits northern Chile day after 8.2 quake
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurred just before 21:00 local time on
Wednesday off the north coast of Chile, 47 km (29 miles) west of
Iquique, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Chilean
government officials say there is no threat of tsunami. This comes one
day after an
8.2 magnitude
quake hit 95 km (59 miles) northwest of the same area, around Iquique.
After Tuesday’s quake, tsunami warnings spurred the evacuation of
900,000 people and 11 hospitals along the coastline, government
officials said. At least six people died following the quake, Chile’s
Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said. Many of the victims died from
heart attacks or falling debris.
Moscow slams US for extraditing Russian citizen from Costa Rica
Russia has slammed the US for initiating the extradition of a Russian
citizen from Costa Rica, said the Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for
human rights, Konstantin Dolgov. The Foreign Ministry stressed that the
extradition was carried out with serious procedural deviations and in
violation of generally accepted international rules.
“The Russian
Embassy in Costa Rica has not been officially notified of the decision
by the authorities of this country to extradite the Russian citizen and
deport him to a third country. He was denied the right to meet a lawyer,
representatives of the Russian Embassy and relatives,” said
Dolgov. Maksim Chuharev has been accused by the US of money laundering
and was deported from Costa Rica to the US last Thursday.
5.8-magnitude earthquake hits off Panama coast – USGS
An earthquake measured at 5.8 magnitude has hit south of David, a city in western Panama,
reports
the US Geological Survey. The service said the quake was about 64 km
away from the city, that is home to some 125,000 people, at a depth of
10 km. Panama’s head of emergency services, Arturo Alvarado, said there
were no reports of damage or injuries but that schools and homes in the
area were evacuated as a precaution. The quake comes a day after Chile
was rattled by a massive 8.2 quake that set off a 2-meter tsunami wave
and led to deaths of 6 people.
Libya rebels to reopen Zueitina oil port when deal done with govt
Rebels in eastern Libya will reopen the seized Zueitina oil port once
they have reached a final deal with the government, a rebel official
said on Wednesday.
“Zueitina could open within two days,” Essam
al-Jahani, a member of the rebels’ leadership team, told Reuters. He
referred to the smallest of the three ports held by the rebels since
summer. Talks with the government were ongoing, he said, citing the
rebels’ demands to move state institutions such as the central bank to
Benghazi, and the possibility of a vote over a federalist system.
UK summons Spanish envoy over Gibraltar ‘provocative incursion’
The UK summoned Spanish Ambassador Federico Trillo on Wednesday to
condemn “a provocative incursion” by Spanish boats into Gibraltar’s
territorial waters, Reuters reported. A Spanish state research vessel
tried to carry out survey activity in Gibraltar’s waters on April 1,
said Britain’s Europe minister, David Lidington. The vessel was
accompanied by a Guardia Civil police boat which made dangerous
maneuvers, the minister said. London will continue to take
“whatever
action we consider necessary to uphold British sovereignty and the
interests of Gibraltar, its people, its security and economy,” Lidington said.
Moscow to continue using legal ways to return Russian pilot Yaroshenko – ministry
Moscow is demanding again that the US stop the outrageous situation
surrounding Konstantin Yaroshenko, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on
Wednesday. The Russian pilot is serving time in the US prison, Fort Dix,
after he was detained in Liberia four years ago on allegations of
preparing the transportation of a large batch of cocaine. Russia will
continue using all legal mechanisms to achieve the return of its citizen
“who has fallen a victim to outrage,” the ministry said. Yaroshenko
earlier sent a letter to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in which he
described his health problems.
NATO to stop cooperation with Russia on Afghan helicopters, anti-drug training
NATO plans to suspend cooperation with Russia on the maintenance of
Afghan helicopters and training anti-drug officials in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, RIA Novosti quoted a source in the alliance as saying. Current
trainees will be allowed to complete the training program before the
project is scrapped, the source said. Head of the Russian Federal Drug
Control Service Viktor Ivanov said that Russia would be able to train
Afghan drug policemen without NATO, ITAR-TASS reported Wednesday. The
alliance’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, earlier said the
bloc hoped to continue working with Russia in Afghanistan and training
anti-drug officials in that country and Pakistan.
Suicide bomb kills 6 in Iraq
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to an army
recruitment center in northern Iraq and killed six army recruits on
Wednesday, AFP said. Fourteen others were wounded, officials said. The
attack in Riyadh, a mostly-Sunni town in the ethnically mixed Kirkuk
province, came on the second day of campaigning for the April-30
parliamentary polls, Iraq’s first since March 2010. Violence is now at
its highest since 2008.
Germany sends frigate on mission to destroy Syrian chemical weapons
The German government said on Wednesday it would send a frigate to
take part in an international mission in the Mediterranean Sea to
destroy Syria’s chemical weapons. Up to 300 German soldiers will take
part in the deployment to help protect the US vessel, MV Cape Ray, AFP
reported. The weapons will be broken down aboard that vessel at sea
using hydrolysis.
7 killed, 19 injured in Thailand WWII bomb blast
At least seven people died and 19 others were injured on Wednesday
when a World War II bomb exploded at a scrap metal warehouse in Bangkok,
AFP said. Workers reportedly tried to cut the 225-kilogram shell open,
officials said. It was found at a construction site by builders who then
sold it to a suburban scrap metal merchant, believing the bomb had been
defused.
Egypt police brigadier-general killed in Cairo blasts
An Egyptian police brigadier-general was killed as two blasts hit
outside Cairo University on Wednesday, state television said. Four
police officers were wounded in an attack on a police vehicle, Reuters
reported, citing security officials.
Suicide bomber, gunmen attack army HQ in south Yemen
A suicide bomber tried to storm the main gate of the Yemeni army’s
southern command headquarters in the port city of Aden on Wednesday,
Reuters reported. Militants in a separate vehicle also attacked the
compound from another side in the al-Tawahi area of Aden, using
rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, according to witnesses.
At least three soldiers and one of the attackers were killed in the
incident, local media reports said.
No side gains if Russia-NATO cooperation suspended – Moscow
Neither Russia nor NATO states would gain if Russia-NATO joint
activity to combat present-day threats to international security were
suspended, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said
on Wednesday. The language of the statement of the NATO Council at the
level of the foreign ministers
“reminds us of verbal sparring of the Cold War times,” ITAR-TASS quoted him as saying. The decision itself to suspend cooperation with Russia both in military and civilian areas
“brings us six years back, when Brussels ‘froze’ the work of the Russia-NATO Council,” he said. However, NATO later initiated a return to cooperation with Russia, Lukashevich said.
Malaysia focusing investigation on crew, pilots of missing plane
Malaysia is focusing its criminal investigation on the cabin crew and
pilots of a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, Reuters said. National
police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said all 227 passengers had been cleared
of possible involvement in hijacking, sabotage or having personal
problems that could have been connected to the flight’s disappearance on
March 8. The authorities have still not ruled out mechanical problems
as causing the disappearance. However, they say evidence suggests the
plane was deliberately diverted from its scheduled route from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing.
Iran rejects Yemen accusations of meddling
Tehran on Wednesday rejected Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi’s
accusations it was stoking unrest in his country. Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the accusations are “without
foundation,” ISNA said. She added that meddling by
“certain countries in the region… contrary to the interests and security” of
Yemen were continuing, apparently referring to Saudi Arabia, AFP said.
Afkham urged Sanaa to arrest and punish those responsible for Iranian
diplomat Ali Asghar Assadi’s murder in the capital last January, and to
secure the release of colleague Ahmad Nikbakht kidnapped in July 2013 by
suspected Al-Qaeda militants.
Thai Constitutional Court to hear new case against PM Shinawatra
Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is facing another legal
challenge after the Constitutional Court announced it will hear a case
on her alleged misconduct for transferring a key government official, AP
reported. The court said Wednesday it had accepted a petition from
anti-government senators that Yingluck violated the charter by unjustly
removing the head of the National Security Council, an opposition
supporter, in 2011. If Yingluck is found guilty she will be removed from
office.
