News in Brief
BERLIN (AP) -- Low-lying areas of a village in northwestern Greenland remain evacuated as villagers and local authorities monitor a vast iceberg for signs it could move closer or break apart, threatening the remote settlement.
Kenneth Elkjaer, a journalist with Greenland public broadcaster KNR, said Sunday the iceberg is about 500 - 600 meters offshore and "everybody is waiting to see what happens to the weather."
On Friday, 33 of Innaarsuit's 169 residents had to move to higher ground due to concerns the iceberg could flip or chunks of it could break off, causing a large wave that might flood parts of the village.
Elkjaer said in an email that "police and local authorities will evaluate the situation again tomorrow."
Earthquakes and tsunamis have created major floods in Greenland in recent years.
***
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -- Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned as he faced a non-confidence vote after a move to lower fuel subsidies prompted days of violent protests in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
In a speech to the Lower Chamber that was broadcast live on television, Lafontant defended his tenure but said that Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise had accepted his resignation.
"As I told you, I am at service to the Republic,” Lafontant said.
Earlier this month, the Haitian government announced a reduction of fuel subsidies as part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The move translated to a 38 percent rise in gasoline prices and 47 percent hike for diesel, triggering protests during which demonstrators barricaded roads, looted stores and set cars ablaze in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The unrest caused embassies to close and airlines to suspend flights to Haiti for days.
***
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A heat wave had killed at least six people and hospitalized more than 1,500 others across the nation Saturday as a three-day weekend got underway, a Kyodo News tally showed.
The deaths occurred in six prefectures: Toyama, Shizuoka, Tottori, Hiroshima, Oita and Kumamoto, which saw temperatures between 33.5 and 37.4. Elsewhere, Kyoto, Gifu and Mie prefectures saw the mercury top 38.
Osaka led the way with 156 people hospitalized for heat exhaustion, followed by 125 in Aichi and 102 in Chiba and Tokyo.
In Shizuoka, a man in his 90s who was found lying outside his home was confirmed dead at a hospital. Another senior, 86, died at a hospital after collapsing near his home.
In Okayama, where more than 1,000 volunteers showed up to help clean up flooded houses and remove debris caused by torrential rain and mudslides, at least 48 people were treated for heat-related maladies.
Of the Meteorological Agency’s 927 observation points nationwide, 613 logged highs of at least 30, and 161 logged temperatures over 35.
The agency warned that temperatures will remain high throughout the week.
***
NIAMEY (Reuters) -- Algeria has deported nearly 400 African migrants trying to reach Europe, sending them back over the Sahara desert into neighboring Niger, the UN migration agency (IOM) and Niger said Sunday.
The IOM and European Union are intensifying efforts to return African migrants home, after thousands have died making the dangerous crossing to Europe across the Mediterranean in overcrowded boats. Many get stuck before ever reaching Africa's northern coast, either in Libya, where they suffer slavery and abuse at the hands of militias, or Algeria.
IOM operations officer Livia Manente told Reuters in an email that the group of 391 migrants from 16 west and central African countries had arrived in the Nigerien town of Assamaka on Friday on about 20-30 vehicles, after being stopped while heading to work in various Algerian cities.
***
NAIROBI (AP) -- Former U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Kenya Sunday, the country of his father's birth, his first visit to this East African country since leaving office.
Obama is in Kenya to help launch the sports and training center founded by his half-sister, Auma Obama, through her foundation Sauti Kuu.
After landing in the capital, Obama met President Uhuru Kenyatta at the official residence, according to Kenyatta's twitter account. Obama was also expected to meet Raila Odinga, the opposition leader now working with Kenyatta's government. Odinga and Kenyatta on March 9 pledged to work together, ending months of turmoil following a disputed presidential election that was nullified by the Supreme Court and a rerun which the opposition boycotted.
***
MADRID (Politico) -- Hundreds in Spain are protesting the removal of the remains of Francisco Franco from a controversial monument built under the fascist dictator’s direction.
Spain’s new socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, who took office in early June, promised to remove Franco’s remains from the state-funded mausoleum, Valle de los Caيdos, or Valley of the Fallen, north of Madrid.
According to a report in Spanish newspaper El Paيs, protesters stood at the mausoleum, chanting Franco’s name, as well as slogans like "Catalonia is Spain” and "Spaniards, yes, refugees, no.”
Kenneth Elkjaer, a journalist with Greenland public broadcaster KNR, said Sunday the iceberg is about 500 - 600 meters offshore and "everybody is waiting to see what happens to the weather."
On Friday, 33 of Innaarsuit's 169 residents had to move to higher ground due to concerns the iceberg could flip or chunks of it could break off, causing a large wave that might flood parts of the village.
Elkjaer said in an email that "police and local authorities will evaluate the situation again tomorrow."
Earthquakes and tsunamis have created major floods in Greenland in recent years.
***
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -- Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned as he faced a non-confidence vote after a move to lower fuel subsidies prompted days of violent protests in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
In a speech to the Lower Chamber that was broadcast live on television, Lafontant defended his tenure but said that Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise had accepted his resignation.
"As I told you, I am at service to the Republic,” Lafontant said.
Earlier this month, the Haitian government announced a reduction of fuel subsidies as part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The move translated to a 38 percent rise in gasoline prices and 47 percent hike for diesel, triggering protests during which demonstrators barricaded roads, looted stores and set cars ablaze in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The unrest caused embassies to close and airlines to suspend flights to Haiti for days.
***
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A heat wave had killed at least six people and hospitalized more than 1,500 others across the nation Saturday as a three-day weekend got underway, a Kyodo News tally showed.
The deaths occurred in six prefectures: Toyama, Shizuoka, Tottori, Hiroshima, Oita and Kumamoto, which saw temperatures between 33.5 and 37.4. Elsewhere, Kyoto, Gifu and Mie prefectures saw the mercury top 38.
Osaka led the way with 156 people hospitalized for heat exhaustion, followed by 125 in Aichi and 102 in Chiba and Tokyo.
In Shizuoka, a man in his 90s who was found lying outside his home was confirmed dead at a hospital. Another senior, 86, died at a hospital after collapsing near his home.
In Okayama, where more than 1,000 volunteers showed up to help clean up flooded houses and remove debris caused by torrential rain and mudslides, at least 48 people were treated for heat-related maladies.
Of the Meteorological Agency’s 927 observation points nationwide, 613 logged highs of at least 30, and 161 logged temperatures over 35.
The agency warned that temperatures will remain high throughout the week.
***
NIAMEY (Reuters) -- Algeria has deported nearly 400 African migrants trying to reach Europe, sending them back over the Sahara desert into neighboring Niger, the UN migration agency (IOM) and Niger said Sunday.
The IOM and European Union are intensifying efforts to return African migrants home, after thousands have died making the dangerous crossing to Europe across the Mediterranean in overcrowded boats. Many get stuck before ever reaching Africa's northern coast, either in Libya, where they suffer slavery and abuse at the hands of militias, or Algeria.
IOM operations officer Livia Manente told Reuters in an email that the group of 391 migrants from 16 west and central African countries had arrived in the Nigerien town of Assamaka on Friday on about 20-30 vehicles, after being stopped while heading to work in various Algerian cities.
***
NAIROBI (AP) -- Former U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Kenya Sunday, the country of his father's birth, his first visit to this East African country since leaving office.
Obama is in Kenya to help launch the sports and training center founded by his half-sister, Auma Obama, through her foundation Sauti Kuu.
After landing in the capital, Obama met President Uhuru Kenyatta at the official residence, according to Kenyatta's twitter account. Obama was also expected to meet Raila Odinga, the opposition leader now working with Kenyatta's government. Odinga and Kenyatta on March 9 pledged to work together, ending months of turmoil following a disputed presidential election that was nullified by the Supreme Court and a rerun which the opposition boycotted.
***
MADRID (Politico) -- Hundreds in Spain are protesting the removal of the remains of Francisco Franco from a controversial monument built under the fascist dictator’s direction.
Spain’s new socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, who took office in early June, promised to remove Franco’s remains from the state-funded mausoleum, Valle de los Caيdos, or Valley of the Fallen, north of Madrid.
According to a report in Spanish newspaper El Paيs, protesters stood at the mausoleum, chanting Franco’s name, as well as slogans like "Catalonia is Spain” and "Spaniards, yes, refugees, no.”