AFP, Rome
Some 970 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya on Thursday, Italy’s coastguard said, as the numbers attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe continue to rise.
Even before Thursday’s arrivals, more than 13,400 people had arrived on Italy’s shores so far this year-an increase of 50 to 70 percent compared with 2016 and 2015.
Egypt court acquits Mubarak over protester killings
AFP, Cairo
Egypt’s top appeals court on Thursday acquitted ex-president Hosni Mubarak of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolt that ended his three-decade reign, a judicial official said.
Mubarak had been sentenced to life in 2012 but an appeals court ordered a retrial, which dismissed the charges two years later. Thursday’s ruling by the Court of Cassation is final.
Kazakh parliament passes reform to Constitution
Reuters, Astana
Kazakhstan’s parliament on Friday approved, in the first reading, a package of amendments to the country’s constitution which reduce presidential powers in favor of lawmakers and the cabinet.
The amendments – endorsed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev – will become law once approved in the second and final readings and signed by Nazarbayev.
China bus collision kills 10, injures 38
AFP, Shangha
Ten people were killed and another 38 injured when a passenger bus collided with a cement truck in southwestern China, state media reported on Friday.
The collision late Thursday in Yunnan province, near the border with Myanmar, tossed the bus on its side and flipped the cement truck off the road, Xinhua news agency said.
Austrian court convicts 8 Iraqi men
AP, Vienna
An Austrian court found eight Iraqi nationals guilty on Thursday of gang-raping a German tourist on New Year’s Eve more than a year ago and sentenced them to prison terms of between nine and 13 years.
Charges against a ninth suspect were dismissed, said a court statement. The victim – a 28-year-old woman – was awarded 25,000 euros (over $26,000) in damages.
US drone kills 2 in Pakistan
AFP, Pakistan
A US drone on Thursday killed two men riding a motorbike in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, officials said, the first such attack in the country under the administration of new American President Donald Trump.
Drone strikes are extremely unpopular among many Pakistanis because they are seen as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, although leaked documents have shown that Islamabad and Washington have secretly colluded over some cases in the past.
