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News in Brief (9-1-2019)

January 09, 2019 00:00:00


Trump to visit US-Mexico border tomorrow

WASHINGTON, Jan 08: President Donald Trump will visit the US-Mexican border this week, his spokeswoman said on Monday, in the latest bid to pressure Congress over border wall negotiations that have led to a partial government shutdown. He will "travel to the Southern border on Thursday to meet with those on the frontlines of the national security and humanitarian crisis," Sarah Sanders said in a tweet. There was no further information on where Trump would travel. — AFP

UK minister rules out Brexit process extension

BRUSSELS, Jan 08: A British government minister working on the process of taking the country out of the European Union says the government will not seek to extend the two-year period in which its departure must happen. Britain leaves the EU on March 29, when the EU treaty's Article 50 governing the procedure times out.--AP

German far-right MP comes under attack

BERLIN, Jan 08: German far-right politician Frank Magnitz has been beaten up and severely injured in an attack seen by police as politically motivated. The leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Bremen was attacked by three people in the centre of the northern city on Monday. Masked men knocked him unconscious with a piece of wood and kicked him in the head, AfD officials said. — BBC

Guatemala expels UN-backed

anti-graft commission

Jan 08: Guatemala has said it is withdrawing from a UN-backed anti-corruption commission which has been investigating the country's President Jimmy Morales. Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said on Monday that the UN body had 24 hours to leave the country. — BBC

IS counterattack in east Syria claims 32 lives

BEIRUT, Jan 08: Jihadists defending their last bastion in eastern Syria used the cover of bad weather to launch a deadly counterattack against a Kurdish-led force, a war monitor said on Tuesday. The Islamic State group was unable to hold on to the positions they attacked but the assault killed 23 members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and also left nine jihadists dead. — AP

Moon sacks chief of staff as his ratings fall

SEOUL, Jan 08: South Korean President Moon Jae-in sacked his chief of staff and two other senior aides on Tuesday in a major reshuffle seen as seeking to shore up his falling support. Moon swept the presidential election in May 2017 after his predecessor Park Geun-hye was ousted over a sprawling corruption scandal, and enjoyed soaring poll ratings last year as tensions between North and South Korea eased. — AFP

Eight civilians die in DR Congo incursion

BENI, DR Congo, Jan 08: At least eight civilians including relatives of soldiers were killed in an overnight incursion by armed men in the volatile eastern DR Congo, the army said on Tuesday. "Eight people (were) killed including four family members of soldiers" in the commune of Mavivi in the north of the Beni region, regional army spokesman Mak Hazukay said. — AFP

Three perish in S Africa train collision

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 08: Authorities in South Africa say a train collision in the capital has killed three people and injured more than 200. Netcare911, an emergency responders' group, says many injuries are "minor to moderate" but that one person in critical condition was airlifted to a hospital after the accident Tuesday in Pretoria. Authorities are investigating the cause of the collision. — AP


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