UAE not leaving war-torn Yemen despite drawdown
AFP, Dubai
The United Arab Emirates, part of a Saudi-led military coalition, is not leaving war-torn Yemen despite an ongoing drawdown and redeployment of Emirati forces, a UAE minister has said.
“Just to be clear, the UAE and the rest of the coalition are not leaving Yemen,” minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said in an opinion piece published Monday in The Washington Post.
Iceland honours first glacier lost to climate change
AFP, Reykjavik
Iceland is planning to mark the passing of Okjokull, its first glacier lost to climate change which threatens some 400 others on the subarctic island.
On August 18, a plaque will be unveiled to Okjokull – which translates to “OK glacier” – in the west of Iceland, local researchers and their peers at Rice University in the United States, who initiated the project, said Monday.
Singapore makes its biggest ever illegal ivory seizure
AFP, Singapore
Singapore has made its largest ever seizure of smuggled ivory, impounding a haul of nearly nine tonnes of contraband tusks from an estimated 300 elephants, authorities said Tuesday.
The illegal cargo, discovered Monday in a container from the Democratic Republic of the Congo being shipped to Vietnam via Singapore, also included a huge stash of pangolin scales – the third such seizure in as many months.
Sri Lanka extends emergency
Reuters, Colombo
Sri Lanka on Monday extended a law granting security forces emergency powers for a fourth month following the Easter Day bomb attacks on hotels and churches that killed more than 250 people.
Under the law, security forces can interrogate suspects without court orders. More than 100 people have been arrested in the crackdown launched after the bombings, which were claimed by Islamic State.
