News in Brief (2024-01-20)

Russian oil depot hit in Ukrainian drone attack

MOSCOW, Jan 19: Fire has broken out over a large area of an oil storage depot in southern Russia after officials say it was hit by a Ukrainian drone. Russian media say four oil tanks caught alight and the fire then spread over an area of 1,000 sq m (10,763sq ft). Russian authorities in the Bryansk region say no-one was hurt. — BBC

Melania Trump gives eulogy at

mother's funeral

WASHINGTON, Jan 19: Donald Trump has joined his wife Melania in mourning her mother, Amalija Knavs, at a private funeral in Florida. The former first lady announced the death of her mother at the age of 78 earlier this month. She delivered a eulogy at the funeral, remembering her mother as "a ray of light in the darkest of days". Mr Trump skipped a court session in his defamation trial in New York to attend the funeral, after the judge refused to postpone the proceedings for a day. — BBC

UK bans Hizb ut-Tahrir as terror group

LONDON, Jan 19: The Sunni Islamist political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir has been formally banned in the UK, the interior ministry said on Friday. Interior minister James Cleverly announced on Monday that he had begun the process of outlawing the group, which he called anti-Semitic and said "actively promotes and encourages terrorism". — AFP

Landslide in Philippines leaves

seven dead

MANILA, Jan 19: At least seven people were killed when a landslide hit a house in the southern Philippines on Thursday, a disaster official said, with the death toll expected to rise. The incident happened in the morning in a mountainous gold mining region of Davao de Oro province on Mindanao island, where heavy rain has triggered flooding and landslides this week. — AFP