UK govt, opposition expect Brexit compromise
LONDON, Apr 08: Britain's government and opposition were clinging to hope on Monday of finding a compromise Brexit deal, 48 hours before Prime Minister Theresa May must try to persuade European Union leaders to grant a delay to the U.K.'s departure from the bloc. If the bloc refuses, Britain faces a sudden and chaotic departure on Friday, the Brexit deadline previously set by the EU. — AP
Hundreds of Syrians return home from Lebanon
BEIRUT, Apr 08: Hundreds of Syrian refugees returned home on Monday from several areas in Lebanon including Tripoli, Saida, Nabatieh, Bekaa and Akkar, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. The Syrian refugees returned by taking buses provided by the Syrian Transport Ministry with the help of Lebanon's General Security, NNA said. Representatives from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) supervised the return in the presence of the Lebanese Red Cross, it added. — Xinhua
Uganda police free kidnapped US woman
KAMPALA, Apr 08: Ugandan police said on Sunday they had rescued an American woman and her driver who had been kidnapped by gunmen in a national park. The two "are in good health" and "in the safe hands" of security officials, police said in a Twitter update. Although authorities provided no details about how the rescue operation was carried out, a government spokesman said on Twitter that the kidnappers had taken their victims to Congo, where the two were rescued by the security forces. — AP
Floods force evacuation of hospital in southwest Iran
TEHRAN, Apr 08: Iranian authorities on Monday evacuated patients from a hospital threatened by floodwaters in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, the semi-official news agency ISNA reported. Iran has been hit by several weeks of unprecedented flooding across most of the usually arid country that has killed 70 people, according to the emergency services. — AFP
Southwest China battles forest fires
CHENGDU, Apr 08: Hundreds of firefighters are battling forest fires that have been sweeping mountain forests in three different counties in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A forest fire that killed 27 firefighters and three locals a week ago in Muli County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, started to burn again Saturday afternoon. —Xinhua
Erdogan defends Istanbul vote recount
ANKARA, Apr 08: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his party's move to demand a full recount of votes cast in mayoral elections in Istanbul, claiming that "almost all" of the voting was marred by irregularities. Erdogan suffered a major setback in last week's local elections after the opposition took control of the capital, Ankara, and won a tight race for Istanbul. — AP
