AFP, Tokyo
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman arrived in Tokyo Sunday, making the first visit to Japan by a monarch from the oil-rich nation in nearly five decades.
The 81-year-old king, who was greeted by Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito at Haneda airport, will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday and as he kicks off the Japanese leg of a broader tour of Asia. Salman, who will visit 83-year-old Emperor Akihito on Tuesday, is travelling with a lavish entourage estimated at over 1,000 people.
Palestinian shot dead in Jerusalem
AP, Jerusalem
Israeli police say troops have shot and killed a Palestinian assailant who stabbed two policemen in the Old City in Jerusalem.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says the assailant attacked the two officers early on Monday. She said they engaged in a struggle and one managed to fend the attacker off and shoot him.
US Northeast braces for blizzard
Reuters, New York
Forecasters put the U.S. East Coast from New York City to Boston on a blizzard watch starting as early as Monday night, with authorities warning residents to prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages, road closures and flight disruptions. Weather experts predicted the region could see 12 to 18 inches of wind-blasted snow from Monday to early Wednesday.
Car bomb blast kills 6 in Mogadishu
AP, Mogadishu
A suicide car bomber detonated near a hotel in Somalia’s capital Monday morning, killing at least six people and injuring four others, police said.
The bomber detonated near the Weheliye hotel on the busy Maka Almukarramah road, Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. Ambulances rushed to the scene. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. The al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist group al-Shabab has often targeted hotels in Mogadishu. A hotel attack in late January killed at least 26 people.
