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Egyptian court says Hamas no longer a terrorist group
An Egyptian appeals court has rescinded a ruling that listed the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization, Reuters reported judicial sources as saying. Hamas was founded as an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has been banned as a terrorist group after one of its leaders, then-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, was toppled in an army coup in 2013.
Saudi forces shot down Scud missile fired by Houthi rebels
Saudi Arabia says it has shot down a Scud missile fired into the kingdom by anti-government Houthi forces in Yemen, the Saudi state news agency stated, cited by Reuters. It was reportedly fired early on Saturday morning towards the city of Khamees al-Mushait in the southwest of the country. The rocket was intercepted by two Patriot missiles, the Saudi-led Arab military coalition said in a statement. The area where the missile was fired is home to the largest air force base in the south of Saudi Arabia.
MERS virus reported in South Korea
South Korea has reported nine fresh cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), taking the total number of people affected to 50, Reuters reported the country’s health ministry as saying. Officials say one patient has made a complete recovery and is the first sufferer to be discharged from hospital. Since the first case was reported May 20, the virus has claimed four lives.
Death toll in Malaysia quake rises to 11, with 9 more bodies discovered on mountain
The Malaysian government has said that nine more bodies have been found on the mountain, bringing the death toll to 11. A total of 160 people were stranded on the peak, and eight people are still missing. The 6.0 earthquake on Friday trapped scores of climbers on the mountain, with most of them making their way back, although with broken limbs, and one being in a coma.
Chinese ship disaster death toll reaches 331
Early Saturday night, Chinese rescue workers pulled the 331st body from the wreckage of the passenger ship ‘Eastern Star,’ Xinhua news agency reports. The vessel overturned on Monday night with 456 people on board after a “cyclone” reportedly hit it amid severe weather. Only 14 people have been rescued, including the captain of the ship, while 111 are still officially missing. The ship was eventually righted by cranes early Friday after hopes of finding any more survivors had faded.
ISIS expands in Libya taking another town
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants captured the Libyan town of Harwa on Friday, expanding their control over the country’s territory. The seizure was reported by the group itself and confirmed by a military source quoted by Reuters, who added that the jihadists had taken over government buildings. IS fighters have recently advanced deeper into Libyan territory, taking over land to the east of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast. The political and military turmoil in Libya, where two rival governments are still struggling for power four years after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, has been greatly exacerbated since IS has entered the scene.
Two killed, over 100 injured at pro-Kurdish rally in Turkey
At least two people have been killed and over 100 wounded in two explosions during a pro-Kurdish rally in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, according to the country’s officials. Local hospitals have made an urgent appeal for blood donations. “It is not yet clear whether this was an attack or an accident. Whatever caused it, we will find out,”Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, according to Reuters. Early reports blamed the incident on an electricity fault, but were later dismissed by the country’s energy minister. The blasts come days before a parliamentary election, in which the pro-Kurdish party is close to the 10 percent threshold required to get into parliament.
2nd friend of Boston bomber sentenced
A Kazakh exchange student who was friends with the Boston Marathon bomber was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in a US federal prison on Friday, AP said. Azamat Tazhayakov was the second of three friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to be sentenced after hiding evidence when going to Tsarnaev’s dorm room three days after the April 2013 bombing. They reportedly removed a backpack containing fireworks after the FBI released images of Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan. Tazhayakov had been convicted last year of obstruction of justice. Robel Phillipos, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was found guilty of the lesser charge of lying to investigators. The third friend, Dias Kadyrbayev from Kazakhstan, was sentenced on Tuesday to six years after pleading guilty to obstructing the investigation.
Burundi police shoot dead demonstrator
Police in Burundi on Friday shot dead a protester in the capital amid renewed demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza, AFP reported. Residents in Bujumbura’s Musaga district, at the center of protests against the president’s bid to stand for a third term, said a group of around 200 people tried to gather in the area to kick-start the flagging protest movement. Police opened fire to disperse the group, and one man was reportedly hit in the chest and died while being treated by the Red Cross.
Yemen Houthi rebels to attend Geneva peace talks
Yemen’s Houthi rebels agreed Friday to attend UN-brokered peace talks in Switzerland.“We accepted the invitation of the UN to go to the negotiating table in Geneva without preconditions,” AFP quoted Daifallah al-Shami, a politburo member of the rebels’ political wing, as saying. The rebels “will not accept conditions” from other parties, he added. The Yemeni government exiled in Riyadh also said it would send a delegation to the talks provisionally scheduled for June 14.
8 out of 10 men charged with schoolgirl Malala’s attack freed in Pakistan
A Pakistani court has freed eight out of 10 people charged with organizing the shooting of Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai, Reuters said. There was not enough evidence to connect the men to the 2012 attack, senior police official Salim Khan said Friday. In April, police said that all 10 had been convicted in a trial held behind closed doors.
Romanian President Iohannis asks PM Ponta to resign over corruption allegations
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Friday urged Prime Minister Victor Ponta to resign over corruption allegations, AP said. They include tax evasion and money laundering. Ponta refused, saying that only parliament could dismiss him. Iohannis says that Romania could be embroiled in a political crisis if Ponta doesn’t quit. Prosecutors have asked parliament to impeach Ponta, and the allegations relate to his work as a lawyer from 2007 to 2008 when he was also a lawmaker for the Social Democratic Party.
12 injured as 2 Rome metro trains collide
Twelve people were injured but none critically after two trains on the Rome metro collided with each other Friday morning, The Local said. The trains “bumped” into each other in a tunnel close to Eur Palasport station on the B line, according to an Ansa report. Officials blame “a human error” for the incident.
Bomb blast near NE Nigeria market kills 31
A bomb blast near a Nigerian market has killed 31 people, AP quoted a civil defense official as saying Friday. Another 38 people are being treated in hospitals, according to Saad Bello, of the National Emergency Management Agency. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday evening’s explosion in the northeastern city of Yola. However, officials say the attack bore the hallmarks of similar attacks by the Islamic terror group Boko Haram.
UK emergency services find 68 people in shipping container at Harwich port
British emergency services have found 68 people, including two pregnant women, locked in a container at a port in southeast England, AFP reported. Seven people were taken to the hospital but none are in a serious condition, the East of England Ambulance Service said. Emergency services were called to Harwich International Port shortly after 2100 GMT Thursday. Thousands of migrants enter the UK illegally each year in trucks crossing from the French port of Calais to Dover on the southern English coast.
Russia to build international airport at Vostochny cosmodrome
An international airport will be built at Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome, the head of the Russian space agency, Igor Komarov, said. Besides specific space needs, the airport will be used for tourism and receiving foreign delegations and new partners in space activities, RIA Novosti quoted the Roscosmos head as saying.
S. Korea reports 4th death from MERS
South Korea has reported a fourth death from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). A 76-year-old male patient died Thursday after testing positive for the virus on May 21, AFP said. Five new cases overnight took the number of infected people to 41 in what has become the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia. Close to 2,000 people are in quarantine or under observation.
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