Malaysia's navy has rescued 26 people after their sailing boat sank in stormy weather off Borneo island, an official said on Friday. Seven of the passengers are British, four American, two Japanese and one Dutch, while the crew included a German, an Irishman and 10 Thais, AFP reports. The boat sank early Thursday off Sabah state on Borneo island. A Malaysian navy vessel responding to the distress call rescued the people as they floated on a life raft and two inflatable dinghies, said Mohamad Izuar Zainuddin, an official with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
Six militants killed in North Caucasus’ Dagestan
Six militants have been killed in a security operation in the town of Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk in the Russian North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan, a source in law enforcement says. The active phase of the operation was completed. “None of the officers was killed or injured,” the source told Interfax on Friday. The Russian National Antiterrorist Committee said earlier on Friday that members of the so-called Kizlyar gang had been trapped inside an apartment in a five-storey residential building in Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk.
UAE readies oil export detour to avoid Strait of Hormuz
The United Arab Emirates is nearing completion of a pipeline through the sheikdom that will allow it to reroute the bulk of its oil exports around the Strait of Hormuz, AP said. The path at the mouth of the Gulf is now responsible for a fifth of the world's oil supply. Iran has threatened to close the waterway, which is patrolled by Iranian and US warships, in retaliation for Western sanctions. With the new pipeline, oil from fields in the Abu Dhabi desert will travel 380 kilometers overland and across the Hajar mountains to the fast-growing port of Fujairah on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
Japan mobilizes police to hunt for last suspect in Tokyo subway attack
Some 5,000 Japanese police were mobilized Friday to hunt for the last fugitive suspected in a doomsday cult's deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway 17 years ago, AP said. Katsuya Takahashi, 54, is on Japan's most wanted list for his suspected role in the attack, which killed 13 people and injured more than 6,000. Nearly 200 members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult have been convicted of the gas attack and other crimes. Thirteen people, including cult guru Shoko Asahara, are on death row.
China pledges to provide help to Afghanistan
Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai signed a joint declaration on Friday pledging wide-ranging cooperation. As they met in Beijing, Hu promised to provide “sincere and selfless help to the Afghanistan side,” AP said. The two states will exchange intelligence and strengthen cooperation against terrorism, illegal immigration, illegal arms and drug trafficking. The document hints at China’s enhanced influence with Kabul after the departure of most foreign troops at the end of 2014. On Thursday, Afghanistan became an observer state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Police investigate reported meth lab inside Missouri Wal-Mart
A Wal-Mart south of St. Louis, Missouri has been evacuated as police and firefighters investigate a reported active meth lab inside the store, local police say. Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident. Police initially received a call about a shoplifter and arrived on scene, where they reportedly discovered chemicals needed to produce methamphetamine. The store was then evacuated as a precaution. Police and firefighters are now expected to dismantle the lab and make sure no hazardous waste is left behind.
16 students killed in Bolivia bus crash
At least 16 students were killed and 32 injured after a bus fell into a ravine in the Acerco Marka municipality of Bolivia, transit police chief Victorino Torres said. Torres noted that the number of fatalities could rise, as rescuers are still combing the wreckage and many of the injured are in critical condition. The exact cause of the accident was not disclosed by the police, though survivors said the driver tried to let another bus pass on the narrow mountain road.
Family of six killed in Florida plane crash
A Kansas businessman, his wife and their four children were killed when their small, fixed-wing airplane crashed in a swampy area in central Florida, authorities said. The family was heading from the Bahamas to their home in Junction City, Kansas. They stopped for customs in Fort Pierce, Florida before taking off again and crashing soon afterwards. It was clear there were no survivors, the sheriff’s office said. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the cause of the accident.
Man files lawsuit over wife's death in Nigeria plane crash
A man whose wife died an airplane crash in Nigeria has filed a lawsuit that blames the accident, at least in part, on US companies that designed, manufactured and sold the plane. Among those named in the lawsuit, which was filed in a US District Court, are Boeing Co., which bought the McDonnel-Douglas manufacturer of the plane, and engine-maker Pratt & Whitney. The Nigerian aviation ministry has said that the flight’s captain said both of the airplane’s engines had failed just moments before it crashed, killing all 153 aboard.
Former Fleetwood Mac member dead in apparent suicide
American musician Bob Welch, a former member of blues-turned-pop-rock band Fleetwood Mac, has been found dead at his Nashville home by his wife. The cause of death was an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. A suicide note was also discovered on scene. Welch joined Fleetwood Mac in 1971 as a vocalist and guitarist. At the time, the band was mired in legal and personal disputes between its members, and Welch quit in 1974. He then formed rock power trio Paris, which disbanded in 1977. Afterwards, he continued releasing albums and singles as a solo artist.
41 people killed throughout Syria – opposition
At least 41 people have been killed in a fresh wave of violence throughout Syria, says the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition watchdog. Among the dead, 23 were reportedly civilians, 15 were army troops, and three were rebels. The deaths were allegedly brought on by shelling and shootings that took place in the Aleppo, Daraa Homs, Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces. Two civilians were reportedly shot in the capital, Damascus. The reported violence comes a day after dozens of civilians were killed in a new massacre in the Hama province. It also comes on the same day that UN-Arab League envoy to the country Kofi Annan and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the UN General Assembly and Security Council on the latest grim developments in Syria.
Deal on Egyptian constitutional panel reached
The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and representatives from 22 parties have reached a deal on the composition of a panel tasked with carving out Egypt’s new constitution, state media reported. The agreement stipulates that half of the panel’s 100 seats will belong to Islamists. The meeting was called by the SCAF's chairman and the country’s provisional head of state Marshall Hussein Tantawi. The Islamist-controlled parliament previously voted to set an Islamist-packed panel, sparking outrage from moderates and prompting a court to order it disbanded. Political forces then struggled to come to an acceptable agreement, though that proved to be a difficult task, with the SCAF warning that it would issue its own draft constitution if the parties failed to come up with a solution.
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