News in Brief
WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday took personal credit for the strength of NATO, an organization he has frequently criticized, and cast his recent meeting with ally countries in a positive light.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is better-funded "only because of me," said Trump in a tweet.
"I had a great meeting with NATO," he said in the same tweet. "NATO was weak, but now it is strong again (bad for Russia). The media only says I was rude to leaders, never mentions the money!"
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LONDON (AP) -- Millions of people in northern England are facing a ban on using garden hoses or sprinklers amid one of the longest spells of hot, dry weather in years.
The United Utilities water company said the temporary ban, which affects seven million domestic customers in northwestern England, will help "safeguard essential water supplies for longer." It said Tuesday that despite recent rains, reservoir levels are still lower than average and hot, dry weather is expected to continue for the rest of the month.
The ban, which takes effect on August 5, restricts the private use of hoses or sprinklers for watering gardens and washing cars.
Earlier this month Irish authorities imposed a similar garden hose ban in the Dublin area amid a rare drought.
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ABUJA (AFP) -- Flooding caused by torrential rains on Nigeria's border with Niger has left 49 people dead and another 20 missing, the emergency services said on Tuesday.
Five villages in Jibia district were affected after a river burst its banks following hours of heavy rains overnight Sunday, Aminu Waziri, the head of the Katsina state emergency management agency, told AFP.
"We have recovered 49 dead bodies from the five villages and we are still searching for 20 others," he added. Twenty-four of the victims were washed away by to Mada Rumfa and Kantumi villages in neighboring Niger.
"Some of the victims were pulled from the rubble of their collapsed homes," said Waziri.
More than 2000 people displaced by the flooding were sheltering in primary schools in Jibia, while 27 injured had been taken to hospital.
Flooding is common in many parts of Nigeria during the rainy season which runs from May to September.
In 2012, Nigeria suffered disastrous floods across 30 of its 36 states, in which hundreds of people died and about two million were left homeless.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- It's getting more crowded around Jupiter. A team of astronomers is reporting the discovery of a dozen new moons circling the giant gas planet.
That brings the number of moons at Jupiter to 79, the most of any planet. Saturn is next with 61.
The astronomers were looking for objects on the fringes of the solar system when they spotted the Jupiter moons. They found a dozen small moons. The confirmation of 10 was announced Tuesday; two were confirmed earlier. They're calling one moon an 'oddball' because of its unusual orbit.
The scientists say the moons weren't seen before because they are tiny - the biggest ones only about two miles across. Telescopes in Chile, Hawaii and Arizona were used for the discovery and confirmation.
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BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The EU is set to fine U.S. internet giant Google several billion euros this week for freezing out rivals of its Android mobile phone system, sources said, in a ruling that risks fresh tensions with Washington.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is expected to say on Wednesday that Google abused its dominant position in the market by making tie-ups with phone makers like South Korea's Samsung and China's Huawei.
The long-awaited decision comes as fears of a transatlantic trade war mount due to President Donald Trump's shock decision to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports.
Two European sources told AFP the fine would be "several billion euros" without giving further details. EU rules say Google could be fined up to 10 percent of parent company Alphabet's annual revenue, which hit $110.9 billion in 2017.
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) -- The International Criminal Court Tuesday marked its 20th anniversary Tuesday urging all nations to help its "vital work" seeking justice for war crimes victims, despite its controversial acquittal of a former Congolese militia chief.
"Two decades after the Rome conference, the system of international justice created by the Rome Statute continues to make waves towards building a culture of accountability," insisted chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
Even though the tribunal, based in The Hague, faced many challenges "its work is increasingly shaping norms, casting a deterrent shadow across the globe," she said.
The tribunal's guiding Rome Statute was agreed in July 1998, and it opened its doors in 2002 as a court of last resort, to prosecute those behind the world's worst atrocities in places where national authorities could not or would not step in.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is better-funded "only because of me," said Trump in a tweet.
"I had a great meeting with NATO," he said in the same tweet. "NATO was weak, but now it is strong again (bad for Russia). The media only says I was rude to leaders, never mentions the money!"
***
LONDON (AP) -- Millions of people in northern England are facing a ban on using garden hoses or sprinklers amid one of the longest spells of hot, dry weather in years.
The United Utilities water company said the temporary ban, which affects seven million domestic customers in northwestern England, will help "safeguard essential water supplies for longer." It said Tuesday that despite recent rains, reservoir levels are still lower than average and hot, dry weather is expected to continue for the rest of the month.
The ban, which takes effect on August 5, restricts the private use of hoses or sprinklers for watering gardens and washing cars.
Earlier this month Irish authorities imposed a similar garden hose ban in the Dublin area amid a rare drought.
***
ABUJA (AFP) -- Flooding caused by torrential rains on Nigeria's border with Niger has left 49 people dead and another 20 missing, the emergency services said on Tuesday.
Five villages in Jibia district were affected after a river burst its banks following hours of heavy rains overnight Sunday, Aminu Waziri, the head of the Katsina state emergency management agency, told AFP.
"We have recovered 49 dead bodies from the five villages and we are still searching for 20 others," he added. Twenty-four of the victims were washed away by to Mada Rumfa and Kantumi villages in neighboring Niger.
"Some of the victims were pulled from the rubble of their collapsed homes," said Waziri.
More than 2000 people displaced by the flooding were sheltering in primary schools in Jibia, while 27 injured had been taken to hospital.
Flooding is common in many parts of Nigeria during the rainy season which runs from May to September.
In 2012, Nigeria suffered disastrous floods across 30 of its 36 states, in which hundreds of people died and about two million were left homeless.
***
NEW YORK (AP) -- It's getting more crowded around Jupiter. A team of astronomers is reporting the discovery of a dozen new moons circling the giant gas planet.
That brings the number of moons at Jupiter to 79, the most of any planet. Saturn is next with 61.
The astronomers were looking for objects on the fringes of the solar system when they spotted the Jupiter moons. They found a dozen small moons. The confirmation of 10 was announced Tuesday; two were confirmed earlier. They're calling one moon an 'oddball' because of its unusual orbit.
The scientists say the moons weren't seen before because they are tiny - the biggest ones only about two miles across. Telescopes in Chile, Hawaii and Arizona were used for the discovery and confirmation.
***
BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The EU is set to fine U.S. internet giant Google several billion euros this week for freezing out rivals of its Android mobile phone system, sources said, in a ruling that risks fresh tensions with Washington.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is expected to say on Wednesday that Google abused its dominant position in the market by making tie-ups with phone makers like South Korea's Samsung and China's Huawei.
The long-awaited decision comes as fears of a transatlantic trade war mount due to President Donald Trump's shock decision to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports.
Two European sources told AFP the fine would be "several billion euros" without giving further details. EU rules say Google could be fined up to 10 percent of parent company Alphabet's annual revenue, which hit $110.9 billion in 2017.
***
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) -- The International Criminal Court Tuesday marked its 20th anniversary Tuesday urging all nations to help its "vital work" seeking justice for war crimes victims, despite its controversial acquittal of a former Congolese militia chief.
"Two decades after the Rome conference, the system of international justice created by the Rome Statute continues to make waves towards building a culture of accountability," insisted chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
Even though the tribunal, based in The Hague, faced many challenges "its work is increasingly shaping norms, casting a deterrent shadow across the globe," she said.
The tribunal's guiding Rome Statute was agreed in July 1998, and it opened its doors in 2002 as a court of last resort, to prosecute those behind the world's worst atrocities in places where national authorities could not or would not step in.