World briefs

SOMALIA The death toll from the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Somalia’s capital rose to 231 with more than 275 injured, making it the deadliest single attack ever in this Horn of Africa nation, a senator said yesterday. Doctors struggled to assist horrifically wounded victims, many burned beyond recognition. “The hospital is overwhelmed by both dead and wounded,” said Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, the director of Medina hospital. “This is really horrendous, unlike any other time in the past.” 

PHILIPPINES President Rodrigo Duterte said he has asked his finance secretary to reject an unspecified British financial aid package and that he’s ready to cut diplomatic ties with all European countries critical of his deadly anti-drug crackdown. 

IRAQ-IRAN Kurdish media says the three official border crossings between Iraq’s Kurdish region and Iran have been closed. But Iran’s Foreign Ministry says there has been no change to the status of the border.

KYRGISTAN Preliminary results from the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan show the governing party’s candidate winning. The country’s media report that Sooronbai Jeenbekov had received about 55 percent of the vote, based on a count of ballots from 95 percent of polling stations.

AUSTRIA Initial results showed the party of Austria’s 31-year-old foreign minister leading in national elections yesterday, putting him on course to become the youngest head of government in Europe.

MOLDOVA A cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on its approach to the international airport in Abidjan, killing four crew members from Moldova and injuring six others from Moldova and France, officials said Saturday.

SPAIN Catalonia’s president is facing a critical decision that could determine the course of the region’s secessionist movement to break away from Spain. The Spanish government has given Carles Puigdemont until this afternoon (Macau time) to clarify if he did or didn’t actually declare independence earlier this week.

ST. HELENA One of the world’s most remote places became a little less isolated on Saturday when the first commercial flight arrived in St. Helena, a South Atlantic island that until recently was only accessible by boat and where Napoleon Bonaparte spent his last years in exile.

GUATEMALA The genocide trial of former Guatemala dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt resumed behind closed doors Friday as the 90-year-old retired general faces charges related to the killing of 1,771 Ixil Indians during his brief time in power.