China vows billions of development dollars
UNITED NATIONS – China’s president pledged billions in aid on Saturday and said Beijing will forgive debts due this year in an effort to help the world’s poorest nations, as world leaders begin to seek the trillions of dollars needed to help achieve sweeping new development goals.
President Xi Jinping spoke at a global summit that on Friday launched the goals for the next 15 years.
Xi and others spoke as the U.N. gathering began to shift focus from development to the high-powered General Assembly meeting that begins Monday with speeches by Xi, President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the first morning alone.
5 die from violence in African country
BANGUI, Central African Republic – Residents say violence returned to a neighborhood of Central African Republic’s capital.
A hospital worker said Saturday that at least five people were killed and more than 20 injured by gunfire and stabbings in Bangui’s PK5 neighborhood.
A Muslim group spokesman, Ousmane Abakar, said the violence was in retaliation for the death of a young Muslim man. Sebastien Wenezoui of the Christian anti-Balaka militia said the group was not responsible for the man’s death and called for peace.
Central African Republic has been rocked by violence since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition toppled the president in 2013.
Iran seeks legal action against Saudi Arabia
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran on Saturday vowed to take international legal action against Saudi Arabia’s rulers over the crush of Muslim pilgrims at this year’s hajj, which killed at least 769 people, including 136 Iranians.
The pilgrims suffocated or were trampled to death Thursday when two massive crowds converged on a narrow street, in the worst disaster to occur during the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. Shiite Iran has accused its Sunni archrival Saudi Arabia of mismanaging the pilgrimage, which annually draws some 2 million people from 180 countries.
Iranians comprise the largest group of casualties identified so far. Iranian state TV says Ghazanfar Roknabadi, a former ambassador to Lebanon, as well as two Iranian state TV reporters and a prominent political analyst are among those still missing.
“Under international law, this incident is absolutely subject to prosecution. The Al-Saud must be responsive,” Iran’s State Prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi told state TV, referring to Saudi Arabia’s ruling family.
Nigeria reveling in removal from polio list
LAGOS, Nigeria – On Saturday, Nigeria celebrated the announcement by the UN health agency that polio is no longer an endemic in the West African country.
The news of Nigeria’s progress, made by the World Health Organization late Friday, leaves only Pakistan and its war-battered neighbor Afghanistan as countries where the disease is prevalent. Polio, which can cause life-long paralysis, can be prevented with a simple vaccination.
“It’s a great moment for Nigeria,” said Dr. Tunji Funsho, chairman of Rotary International’s anti-polio campaign in Nigeria. “We should celebrate but with a caveat that we should not let our guard down.”
The Associated Press
