In battle for Libya’s oil, water becomes a casualty

Libyan children displaced* from the town of Tawergha fill containers with water at a displaced camp in Benghazi, Libya, in this June 19 file photo. In western Libya, finding clean water has become difficult because both the power grid and the water control system have been damaged. If the damage does not get fixed, there could be a “sudden, unexpected, uncontrollable and un-prepared for” shutdown of the main water pipeline system. SD-Agencies

Historic handshake for Trump, Kim at DMZ

With wide grins and a historic handshake, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met at the heavily fortified* Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Sunday and agreed to revive talks.

Trump became the first sitting American leader to step into North Korea.

What was intended to be an impromptu* exchange of pleasantries* turned into a 50-minute meeting, another historic first in the yearlong rapprochement between the two technically warring nations. It marked a return to face-to-face contact between the leaders after talks broke down during a summit in Vietnam in February.

At least 50 children wounded in attack on Kabul

At least 50 children were among nearly 100 people wounded on Monday when the Taliban detonated a powerful car bomb in an area of Kabul housing military and government buildings, officials said.

The rush-hour* blast was followed by gunmen storming a building and triggering a gun battle with special forces in the Puli Mahmood Khan neighborhood of the Afghan capital.

Among the 93 wounded were 50 children. Most of them had been hurt by flying glass and were in stable condition.

Japan resumes commercial whaling

Japanese fishermen set sail on Friday to hunt whales commercially for the first time in more than three decades after Tokyo’s controversial withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) triggered outrage from environmental groups.

The planned hunts, while small and far from internationally protected waters, have also sparked anger in countries where whaling is considered outdated and harmful.

German leader Merkel seen shaking again

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen visibly shaking again at an official ceremony on Thursday just one week after a similar episode.

While German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was handing over the certificate of appointment to the new German Minister of Justice, Christine Lambrecht, the chancellor’s whole body suddenly began to tremble.

As soon as the chancellor moved, she appeared fine again, reported a Deutsche Press-Agentur (DPA) photographer.

Last week, Merkel was seen trembling considerably when she received Ukraine’s new President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Images of drowned migrant and 2-year-old child stir outrage

Shocking images of a drowned Salvadoran migrant and his 2-year-old daughter who died while trying to cross the Rio Grande River from Mexico to the United States have sparked outrage, underscoring the dangers faced by asylum-seekers*.

Twenty-five-year-old Oscar Martinez Ramirez fled El Salvador with his 21-year-old wife and their daughter and decided to make the risky crossing from Mexico to the U.S. on the afternoon of June 23, according to a Mexican court report.

But the father and daughter were swept away by violent currents. The two bodies were found on Monday in Matamoros in Tamaulipas.

(SD-Agencies)