India creates new ministry to tackle growing water crisis
AP, New Delhi
India’s government has created a new ministry to respond to a growing water crisis, with more than 60% of the country’s 1.3 billion people dependent on farming and favorable monsoon rains.
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind told Parliament on Thursday that the new Ministry of Water Power will tackle water conservation and management.
Erdogan’s party fights to retake Istanbul in mayoral re-run vote
AFP, Istanbul
Istanbul will vote for a mayor for the second time in three months on Sunday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party fights to win back the city after a shock defeat in March.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) successfully challenged the result in the city following the vote three months ago, which saw it lose control of both Istanbul and the capital Ankara for the first time in years.
S Korea urges NKorea summit before Trump’s Seoul visit
Reuters, Washington
South Korea on Wednesday urged North Korea to hold another summit with its leader ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Seoul next week, while the United States said its door remained “wide open” for talks with Pyongyang.
US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, speaking at a Washington forum, said the United States had no pre-conditions for new talks with North Korea, which have been stalled since a failed summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February.
New Zealand opens gun buyback after mosque killings
AFP, Wellington
New Zealand opened a gun buyback scheme Thursday aimed at ridding the country of semi-automatic weapons similar to those used in the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 Muslim worshippers.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed in the hours after the March 15 killings that New Zealand’s gun laws would be tightened and her government has expedited the change in just three months.
Syrian refugee in US arrested for plotting church attack
AFP, New York
A Syrian refugee in the US was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of planning an attack against a Pennsylvania church in the name of the Islamic State group, the Justice Department said.
Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 21, who arrived in the country as a refugee from Syria in August 2016, intended to target a church in the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, assistant attorney general John Demers and Pittsburgh federal prosecutor Scott Brady said in a statement.
