More countries close embassies in Yemen
SANAA, Yemen – Saudi Arabia, Italy and Germany shut down their embassies in Yemen on Friday amid growing political uncertainty as Yemen’s top U.N. envoy warned that the Arab world’s poorest nation is at a crossroads between “civil war and disintegration.”
The new embassy closures come days after similar measures by the United States, France and Britain, threatening international isolation for a country that houses the world’s most active al-Qaida branch.
Yemen’s elected president resigned last month after a several-month power struggle with Shiite rebels, who have controlled the capital, Sanaa, since September. The rebels, known as Houthis, have since dissolved the parliament, and President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his Cabinet ministers remain under rebel house arrest.
U.S. tied to measles cases in Germany
BERLIN – A spike of measles infections in Berlin has been traced to unvaccinated refugees, but at least two cases appear to have come from the United States, authorities in the German capital said Friday.
Berlin has recorded 347 cases of measles since the start of the year, more than twice the number it had during all of 2014.
Officials believe the outbreak started with a child asylum seeker from Bosnia, because many subsequent infections among refugees were genetically linked.
“We consider this child to be the index case, because the measles virus this child had is identical to the ones that followed,” said Dr. Dirk Werber of Berlin’s state health office.
Boko Haram launches first attacks in Chad
MOUNDOU, Chad – Suspected Boko Haram militants staged their first attack in Chad on Friday, hitting the third country outside their home base of Nigeria in recent days as the region beefs up its military response to the armed Muslim extremist group.
The assault took place in the village of Ngouboua on the shore of Lake Chad early Friday, and left a community leader, one Chadian soldier and at least two militants dead, Chad’s military said.
Boko Haram has threated any nation contributing to the fight against them. The nation of Chad is contributing the most military muscle to the effort, with its soldiers already attacking the insurgents in the countries of Cameroon and Nigeria.
Climate deal draft prepared for talks
GENEVA – U.N. negotiators on Friday produced an early draft of what eventually should become a landmark climate deal in Paris next December, piling on suggestions to make sure the document reflected every country’s wishes.
So instead of shrinking to a more manageable size, the 38-page text from a previous climate change meeting swelled to 86 pages during the weeklong negotiating session in Geneva.
“We were hoping to see a more concise text,” said Ilze Pruse, a delegate from the European Union.
Associated Press
