World briefs

SOUTH KOREA A second member of the South Korean band Ladies’ Code died from injuries sustained from a motor accident, her management said yesterday. Kwon Ri-sae, 23, died yesterday morning at a hospital in Suwon, just south of Seoul. She had been unconscious after undergoing hours of emergency brain surgery following Wednesday’s accident, according to Polaris Entertainment agency spokeswoman Kim Eun-kyung. Fellow band member Go Eun-bi died shortly after a van carrying the group crashed into a guard rail on a rain-drenched highway near Seoul.

YEMEN Security forces moved to break up a sit-in held by Shiite rebels blocking the capital’s airport road yesterday, using water cannons, bulldozers and tear gas, security officials and witnesses said.

LEBANON The mother of a Lebanese soldier held captive by the militant Islamic State group said photographs posted online Saturday purporting to show his beheading appeared to be real. Zeinab Noun said her 20-year-old son, Abbas Medlej, was “sacrificed” after supporters of the militant Sunni group posted images appearing to show a captured Lebanese soldier before and after he was beheaded.

GAZA The new Palestinian unity government faced a new crisis yesterday after President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to dissolve his alliance with Hamas if the Islamic militant group does not give up power in the Gaza Strip. Abbas is looking to regain a foothold in Gaza, which suffered heavy losses during the fighting, and expects to play a leading role in internationally backed reconstruction efforts.

SOMALIA’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, named a new leader Saturday after confirming the killing of their previous leader by a U.S. airstrike, a commander of the group said. The Somali militants unanimously selected Ahmad Umar, also known as Abu Ubaidah, at a meeting in an undisclosed location in Somalia, said rebel commander Abu Mohammed. Al-Shabab also stated that it remains aligned with al-Qaida, according to the Site Intelligence Group, that monitors statements by Islamic militant groups.

USA Even in death, Joan Rivers got what she wanted: A star-studded funeral, with the worlds of Hollywood, fashion, media and money all among the mourners. Yesterday morning, a legion of notables turned out at New York’s Temple Emanu-El to remember Rivers, who died Thursday at 81: Kathy Griffin, whose edgy, biting comedy career was largely made possible by Rivers; colleague and friend Kelly Osbourne; Sarah Jessica Parker, Whoopi Goldberg and Howard Stern.