Reuters, Tokyo
Japanese police arrested two men on Friday after several bullets were fired at the Tokyo headquarters of a group linked to North Korea, a spokesman and media said.
The men pulled up at the complex housing the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) in a van shortly before 4 a.m., before one of them fired multiple shots at the gate, media reported.
UNAIDS deputy chief to step down
AFP, Geneva
The deputy head of UNAIDS, accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague but cleared of wrongdoing by an internal United Nations probe, announced his decision to step down on Friday.
Luiz Loures “has communicated his wish to the UNAIDS executive director not to seek the renewal of his position,” the agency said in a statement.
Indonesian landslide death toll rises to 7
AP, Brebes
Heavy rains hampered the search Friday for victims of a landslide on the Indonesian island of Java as authorities raised the death toll to seven.
The chief of the disaster mitigation agency in Brebes, Eko Andalas, said a body was found Friday and one of the people injured in the disaster had died in a hospital.
N Korean official’s visit to pursue peace
Reuters,Seoul
South Korea said it approved the Winter Olympic visit by a sanctioned North Korean official, blamed for the deadly 2010 sinking of a South Korean navy ship, in the pursuit of peace and asked for public understanding.
Kim Yong Chol, vice-chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, will lead a high-level delegation at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on Sunday. The delegation will also meet President Moon Jae-in.
EU doubles Sahel force funding
AFP, Brussels
European leaders on Friday doubled their funding for a joint African force tackling jihadists in the Sahel at an international conference in Brussels, as fresh violence highlights the region’s fraught security situation.
The European Union announced an extra 50 million euros ($61 million) for the G5 Sahel force at talks with heads of state from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, adding to around 280 million euros already pledged by international donors.
Haiti suspends Oxfam operations
AFP, Haiti
Haiti on Thursday suspended the operations of British charity Oxfam pending the outcome of its investigation into allegations that its staff sexually exploited Haitians after a devastating 2010 earthquake. The country’s ministry of planning and foreign aid said Oxfam GB had made a “serious error” by failing to inform Haitian authorities of the actions by their staff at the time they occurred.
