SANA’A, Yemen

Amid clashes, Shiite rebels take over state TV building

Yemen’s top security body has imposed an overnight curfew in restive areas in the capital, Sana’a, after Shiite rebels took over the state TV building amid heavy clashes.

The Supreme Security Commission said Saturday the curfew was being imposed in the north and west of the capital.

Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the spokesman of Shiite rebels known as Hawthis, said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page that his group took over the TV building after a heavy exchange of gunfire with troops guarding the building.

All three state TV networks went off the air, and witnesses say the building was on fire.

Advertisement

Days of clashes between Hawthi rebels and Sunni militiamen have left more than 140 dead and prompted thousands to flee.

ISLAMABAD

Rescuers evacuate 50,000, with flood death toll at 346

Pakistan’s disaster management agency says rescuers with boats and helicopters have evacuated about 50,000 people from the country’s south after raging floods inundated more villages there.

In a statement, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency said Saturday two dozen people were killed in the past 24 hours in the eastern Punjab province, raising the death toll from rains and flooding to 346.

It said flood water wreaked havoc in Punjab province and was now passing through remote areas in the southern Sindh province.

Advertisement

It said so far no deaths have been reported from Sindh province.

Floods have also killed 200 people in the India-controlled part of Kashmir since Sept. 3 when monsoon rains triggered flash floods in the Himalayan region. Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and neighboring India.

PARIS

Cause of jet crash in Mali is still under investigation

Investigators probing the crash of an Air Algerie jet in July that killed all 116 people on board say they have no solid leads on the cause.

Bernard Boudaille of France’s accident investigation authority BEA said investigators still don’t know what brought down Flight 5017, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 carrying 110 passengers and six crew members, nearly two months after the jet crashed in Mali soon after it took off from Ouagadougo, Burkina Faso.

Speaking Saturday at a news conference in Bamako, Mali, Boudaille said investigators “aren’t favoring any leads.”

Nearly half of the dead were French. The six crew members were Spanish.

– From news service reports


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.