MOGADISHU, Dec 27 (Reuters) -- Somalia’s president said on Monday he had suspended the prime minister for suspected corruption, a move the prime minister described as a coup attempt, escalating a power struggle between the two leaders. The raging, months-long dispute is widely seen as distracting the government of the Horn of Africa country from fighting an Islamist insurgency. It will also raise concerns about the prospect of renewed clashes between factions in the security forces allied to each side. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed accused Prime Minister Muhammad Hussein Roble of stealing land owned by the Somali National Army (SNA) and of interfering with a defence ministry investigation. In response, Roble said the move was unconstitutional and aimed at derailing an ongoing election. He also ordered the security forces to start taking orders from him, instead of the president.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia will continue providing Mali with military assistance through state channels, the RIA news agency cited a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Monday, days after Bamako denied the presence of Russian mercenaries. France, Canada and 13 European nations last week condemned Moscow for facilitating the alleged deployment of private military contractors from the Russia-backed Wagner Group to Mali, where the government is battling an Islamist insurgency. Mali’s government on Saturday denied the presence of Russian mercenaries, but said “Russian trainers” were there as part of a bilateral agreement between Mali and Russia.

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JAKARTA (Reuters) -- A boat carrying scores of Rohingya refugees including women and children broke down and was stranded in waters off the coast of Aceh province on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, local authorities and humanitarian groups said on Monday. Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have for years sailed to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia between November and April when the seas are calm. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday the boat carrying the Rohingya was spotted on Sunday in waters off Bireuen, Aceh and it was working with local authorities to rescue the group. There were about 70 refugees in the boat, Amnesty International’s Indonesia branch said, citing local authorities. Badruddin Jusuf, a local fishing community leader, estimated the number aboard at 120 and said they had been given food. More than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar in August 2017 after a military crackdown that refugees said included mass killings and rape. Rights groups documented killings of civilians and burning of villages.

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BEIJING (AFP) -- The locked-down Chinese city of Xi’an on Monday tightened Covid-19 controls to the “strictest” level, banning residents from driving cars around town in an effort to control the country’s worst outbreak in 21 months. China has stuck to a “zero-Covid” strategy of tight border restrictions, lengthy quarantines and targeted lockdowns as Beijing prepares to welcome thousands of overseas visitors for February’s Winter Olympics. Xi’an -- where 13 million residents are facing their fifth day of home confinement -- is at the centre of a flare-up that has pushed nationwide daily infections to their highest numbers since March last year. Restrictions tightened further on Monday as Xi’an announced it would impose the “strictest social control measures”, according to a city government social media account. The northern city -- home to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors -- recorded 150 new cases on Monday, bringing the total locally transmitted cases to 635 since December 9.

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COLFAX, Calif. (AP) — A major Christmas weekend storm caused whiteout conditions and closed key highways amid blowing snow in mountains of Northern California and Nevada, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days. Authorities near Reno said three people were injured in a 20-car pileup on Interstate 395, where drivers described limited visibility on Sunday. Further west, a 70-mile (112-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 80 was shut until at least Monday from Colfax, California, through the Lake Tahoe region to the Nevada state line. The California Department of Transportation also closed many other roads while warning of slippery conditions for motorists. “Expect major travel delays on all roads,” the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada, said Sunday on Twitter. “Today is the type of day to just stay home if you can. More snow is on the way too!”

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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- Malaysia’s government was under fire Monday as residents accused it of responding too slowly after the country’s worst floods in years. Days of torrential rain caused rivers to overflow last week, swamping cities, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. Damaged appliances and soaked furniture were piled up on the streets and outside homes in flood-hit areas as residents and volunteers continued a massive clean-up drive. The mounds of rubbish left in the area after the floods have also sparked fear of disease outbreaks. Selangor, which encircles the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, was the state hit hardest by the floods. Many in Shah Alam were left stranded in their homes with barely any food for days, before being evacuated on boats in a chaotic rescue operation.