News in Brief
MOGADISHU (Reuters) -- More than 300 people were killed by twin bomb explosions in Mogadishu, an official said on Monday, as locals packed hospitals in search of friends and relatives caught by Somalia's deadliest attack in a decade.
The death toll has steadily risen since Saturday, when the blasts struck at two busy junctions in the heart of the capital city. One truck bomb detonated near a fuel truck, creating an enormous fireball.
The bomb attacks were the deadliest since militant group Al-Shabaab began an insurgency in 2007. The Takfiri group has not claimed responsibility, but the method and type of attack - a large truck bomb - is increasingly used by the Al Qaeda-linked organization.
"We have confirmed 300 people died in the blast. The death toll will still be higher because some people are still missing," Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of the city's ambulance service, told Reuters.
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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- An overcrowded boat carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar capsized Monday in the Bay of Bengal near a Bangladeshi fishing village, killing 12 people, including six children, police said.
Survivors of the capsizing told local officials that up to 65 people were on board and almost half of them were children, local police official Sheikh Ashrafuzzaman said. The capsizing occurred as the boat was approaching Shah Porir Dwip in Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district bordering Myanmar's Rakhine state.
He said villagers told police they recovered five bodies and at least 21 people survived.
Including Monday's capsizing, boat accidents have killed at least 184 Rohingya trying to reach Bangladesh.
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HANOI (AFP) -- Vietnam braced Monday for fresh storms as the official death toll from last week's floods and landslides rose to 72.
Downpours lashed much of northern and central Vietnam last week, causing floods and landslides that killed dozens, wiped out thousands of homes and left at least 30 missing in one of the country's worst weather disasters for years.
The desperate search for the missing continued on Monday, with officials trying to clear roads as Tropical Depression Khanun barrelled towards northern Vietnam.
Forecasters said Khanun has weakened from a typhoon after passing south of Hong Kong.
But it threatens to bring heavy rain and more misery to areas already hard hit by floods and landslides, including Hoa Binh province where 23 died last week.
The province declared a state of emergency on Monday over warnings that more landslides could occur as Khanun approached.
***
MANILA (AFP) -- The Philippines' military chief vowed no letup Monday in hunting down and destroying extremist groups loyal to Daesh, saying Marawi City would be retaken within days after the pivotal killing of two top rebel commanders.
General Eduardo Ano said the successful operation to take out the two leaders was a "triumph of good over evil" and urged the 30 militants remaining in a shrinking combat zone to surrender and free hostages as troops stepped up their fight.
"It will be just a matter of days before it will finally be declared that Marawi has been liberated from the clutches of terrorists," Ano told a televised news conference. "There will be no let up. It's about time to end these terrorists."
Isnilon Hapilon, Daesh’s anointed "emir" in Southeast Asia, was shot in the head by a sniper and Omarkhayam Maute, one of two Middle East-educated "Khalifas" at the helm of the militant alliance, died of a chest wound in a targeted operation during the night, officials said.
***
PARIS (AFP) -- A new law banning cat-calling and harassment of women on French streets will see men fined on the spot for lecherous and aggressive behavior, France's women's minister said Monday.
The legislation is being piloted by 34-year-old Marlene Schiappa, a feminist and early supporter of French President Emmanuel Macron who wants to tackle sexist male attitudes in public spaces.
"It's completely necessary because at the moment street harassment is not defined in the law," she told RTL radio on Monday in a major interview to outline the law, which is to be voted next year.
The escalating scandal over Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual assaults on a string of actresses has rekindled debate on sexual harassment and predation in France.
***
LEOGANE, Haiti (AFP) -- About 40 people remain missing after a migrant vessel sank off the northern coast of Haiti, authorities said Monday.
Nine people have so far been rescued by search teams scouring the seas off the island of La Tortue, Haiti's civil emergency agency said, adding they were pessimistic about the prospect of more survivors.
The vessel sank after leaving La Tortue on Sunday for Providenciales island in the northern Turks and Caicos archipelago, 200 kilometers (120 miles) to the north.
According to the survivors, three of whom were hospitalized on their return to Haiti, the vessel was carrying 50 people when it sank.
The death toll has steadily risen since Saturday, when the blasts struck at two busy junctions in the heart of the capital city. One truck bomb detonated near a fuel truck, creating an enormous fireball.
The bomb attacks were the deadliest since militant group Al-Shabaab began an insurgency in 2007. The Takfiri group has not claimed responsibility, but the method and type of attack - a large truck bomb - is increasingly used by the Al Qaeda-linked organization.
"We have confirmed 300 people died in the blast. The death toll will still be higher because some people are still missing," Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of the city's ambulance service, told Reuters.
***
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- An overcrowded boat carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar capsized Monday in the Bay of Bengal near a Bangladeshi fishing village, killing 12 people, including six children, police said.
Survivors of the capsizing told local officials that up to 65 people were on board and almost half of them were children, local police official Sheikh Ashrafuzzaman said. The capsizing occurred as the boat was approaching Shah Porir Dwip in Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district bordering Myanmar's Rakhine state.
He said villagers told police they recovered five bodies and at least 21 people survived.
Including Monday's capsizing, boat accidents have killed at least 184 Rohingya trying to reach Bangladesh.
***
HANOI (AFP) -- Vietnam braced Monday for fresh storms as the official death toll from last week's floods and landslides rose to 72.
Downpours lashed much of northern and central Vietnam last week, causing floods and landslides that killed dozens, wiped out thousands of homes and left at least 30 missing in one of the country's worst weather disasters for years.
The desperate search for the missing continued on Monday, with officials trying to clear roads as Tropical Depression Khanun barrelled towards northern Vietnam.
Forecasters said Khanun has weakened from a typhoon after passing south of Hong Kong.
But it threatens to bring heavy rain and more misery to areas already hard hit by floods and landslides, including Hoa Binh province where 23 died last week.
The province declared a state of emergency on Monday over warnings that more landslides could occur as Khanun approached.
***
MANILA (AFP) -- The Philippines' military chief vowed no letup Monday in hunting down and destroying extremist groups loyal to Daesh, saying Marawi City would be retaken within days after the pivotal killing of two top rebel commanders.
General Eduardo Ano said the successful operation to take out the two leaders was a "triumph of good over evil" and urged the 30 militants remaining in a shrinking combat zone to surrender and free hostages as troops stepped up their fight.
"It will be just a matter of days before it will finally be declared that Marawi has been liberated from the clutches of terrorists," Ano told a televised news conference. "There will be no let up. It's about time to end these terrorists."
Isnilon Hapilon, Daesh’s anointed "emir" in Southeast Asia, was shot in the head by a sniper and Omarkhayam Maute, one of two Middle East-educated "Khalifas" at the helm of the militant alliance, died of a chest wound in a targeted operation during the night, officials said.
***
PARIS (AFP) -- A new law banning cat-calling and harassment of women on French streets will see men fined on the spot for lecherous and aggressive behavior, France's women's minister said Monday.
The legislation is being piloted by 34-year-old Marlene Schiappa, a feminist and early supporter of French President Emmanuel Macron who wants to tackle sexist male attitudes in public spaces.
"It's completely necessary because at the moment street harassment is not defined in the law," she told RTL radio on Monday in a major interview to outline the law, which is to be voted next year.
The escalating scandal over Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual assaults on a string of actresses has rekindled debate on sexual harassment and predation in France.
***
LEOGANE, Haiti (AFP) -- About 40 people remain missing after a migrant vessel sank off the northern coast of Haiti, authorities said Monday.
Nine people have so far been rescued by search teams scouring the seas off the island of La Tortue, Haiti's civil emergency agency said, adding they were pessimistic about the prospect of more survivors.
The vessel sank after leaving La Tortue on Sunday for Providenciales island in the northern Turks and Caicos archipelago, 200 kilometers (120 miles) to the north.
According to the survivors, three of whom were hospitalized on their return to Haiti, the vessel was carrying 50 people when it sank.