mid-air storm drama
AFP, Islamabad
Britain’s Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived back in Islamabad Friday after spending an unexpected night in Lahore when thunderstorms forced their pilot to abort two landing attempts in the capital, reporters travelling with them said.
Prince William and his wife Kate ended up staying the night at a hotel in Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, before finally flying back to Islamabad Friday morning, according to British royal correspondents on board their plane.
Kushner to visit Israel this month
AP, Washington
President Donald Trump’s top Mideast adviser, Jared Kushner, will visit Saudi Arabia and Israel at the end of the month, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.
Kushner, who also is Trump’s son in law, will join Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at an economic conference in Saudi Arabia before heading to Israel, the official said. In Israel, Kushner is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief political rival, Benny Gantz. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Gunmen kill 2 women, 3 kids near Tripoli
AP, Cairo
Gunmen killed two women and three children of the same family while they were driving on a highway near the capital, Tripoli, less than a week after an airstrike slammed into a house killing at least three civilians, a health official said Thursday.
The city has been the scene of fighting between rival militias since April. A U.N.-supported but weak government holds the capital, but the self-styled Libyan National Army – which is associated with a rival government in the country’s east – is trying to seize it.
Son of drug kingpin arrested by Mexico police
AFP, Mexico City
Mexican security forces on Thursday arrested one son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in an operation that triggered intense fighting.
Heavy gunfire rocked Culiacan, a city of 750,000 people, in sustained clashes that left blazing vehicles strewn across the street and sent terrified residents running for cover.
Trump announces departure of Energy Secretary Rick Perry
AFP, United States
Donald Trump said Thursday that Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who has been caught up in the impeachment probe engulfing the US president, was standing down, marking the latest departure of a senior administration figure.
“Rick has done a fantastic job at Energy but it was time-three years is a long time,” Trump said, speaking in Texas. “We already have his replacement.”
