At least 15 dead in mudslide at hotel in Peru

Rescue workers at a hotel hit by a mudslide in Peru on Sunday. A landslide crashed into the hotel during a wedding celebration in southeastern Peru, killing at least 15 people, authorities said. The mayor, Evaristo Ramos, said about 100 guests had been invited to the wedding party on Saturday and “there are 15 dead and 34 injured.”SD-Agencies

Maduro tours military amid pressure

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday visited a military base in the northern state of Carabobo, exhorting* the audience, “Traitors never, loyal always,” televised images showed.

During the visit to Fort Paramacay in Carabobo’s capital city Valencia, Maduro, along with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, marched through barracks* during an exercise in the latest gesture to display military backing.

The military is planning larger exercises February 10-15 that Maduro said are the “most important in the history of Venezuela.”

Former Starbucks CEO considering White House bid

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said on Sunday he was considering a bid for U.S. president as an independent, upsetting some Democrats who believe he would hurt their party’s chances of defeating Republican President Donald Trump in 2020.

“I am seriously thinking of running for president. I will run as a centrist* independent,” Schultz said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Schultz, describing himself as a “lifelong Democrat,” said Americans were tired of the behavior of both the Republican and Democratic parties.

.

Twin blasts in Philippines church kill at least 20

Twenty people, including five army soldiers, were killed and 111 others wounded on Monday as two blasts went off inside and near the entrance of a Roman Catholic church on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, police said.

“Hopefully the number of those killed in the incident will stop at 20,” said Police Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares, Philippine National Police (PNP) director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Hundreds missing in Brazil dam burst

At least 34 people were killed, and hundreds remain missing after a tailings* dam owned by mining giant Vale collapsed on Friday afternoon in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais, the state fire department said.

Out of the 34 victims, eight were identified with two being confirmed as Vale workers. A total of 46 people were rescued on Saturday morning. And 23 of them were injured and taken to local hospitals.

Satellite images suggest Saudi missile factory

A military base deep inside Saudi Arabia appears to be testing and possibly manufacturing ballistic* missiles, experts and satellite images suggest, evidence of the type of weapons program it has long criticized its arch-rival Iran for possessing.

Further raising the stakes for any such program are comments by Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said last year the kingdom wouldn’t hesitate to develop nuclear weapons if Iran does.(SD-Agencies)