Children among 13 Pakistanis killed in Jordan fire

AFP, Amman

Thirteen Pakistanis including eight children died early yesterday when a blaze tore through their corrugated metal home in a rural area of western Jordan, authorities said. Rescue services said “13 people died and three others were injured when fire broke out in a corrugated metal house” on a farm in South Shona, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Amman. The makeshift building was home to two Pakistani families working as agricultural labourers, they said in a statement.

Palestine blames US for new Israeli

settlement in Hebron

Xinhua, Ramallah

Palestine on Sunday slammed Israel’s decision on building a new settlement in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, saying it is a “clear result” of US backing. “Israel’s decision to build a new illegal settlement in occupied Hebron is the first tangible result of the US decision to legitimize colonization; this cannot be taken out of the context annexation,” said Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization. “Concrete measures, including sanctions against settlements, are an international responsibility,” he tweeted.

Group says five more years of war in Yemen will cost $29B aid

AP, Cairo

 An international relief group says another five years of fighting in Yemen will cost as much as $29 billion just to sustain the current level of humanitarian aid — more than the entire annual humanitarian budget globally. Monday’s report by the International Rescue Committee says that with the current rate of aid, it will take 20 years to return Yemen to pre-conflict levels of child hunger. Yemen’s war began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by Iranian-backed rebels known as Houthis. A Saudi-led coalition allied with the internationally recognized government has been fighting the rebels since 2015.

Air raids in Libyan capital kill five

AFP, Tripoli

At least five civilians were killed and 10 wounded in overnight air strikes in a suburb of Libya’s capital, the unity government’s health ministry said yesterday. “Violent air raids on the residential area of al-Swani killed five civilians and injured 10 others, some of them seriously,” said spokesman Amin al-Hashemi. Hashemi reported major damage after the strikes on al-Swani, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of central Tripoli. He said there was no military infrastructure in the area.

14 killed in Burkina Faso church attack

AFP, Ouagadougou

Fourteen people were killed in an attack Sunday on a church in eastern Burkina Faso where places of worship have suffered a string of Islamist assaults this year, the regional government said. “Unidentified armed men” carried out the attack during a Sunday service at a Protestant church in the town of Hantoukoura near the border with Niger, the government statement said. “This attack unfortunately left 14 dead and many wounded,” it said. Soldiers in the region were hunting down the assailants, who fled on scooters, a security source said earlier.