IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Saudi Arabia

Coalition says IS chief of Yemen captured

Saudi and Yemeni special forces have captured the head of the Islamic State group's branch in Yemen, the Saudi-led military coalition said on Tuesday. The leader, identified as Abu Osama al-Muhajir, was caught in an early June raid along with other members of the jihadist group including its chief financial officer, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said. Saudi special forces in cooperation with their Yemeni counterparts "conducted a successful operation that resulted in the capture of the leader of the Daesh (IS) branch in Yemen - Abu Osama al-Muhajir," he said. Maliki did not specify where Abu Osama was apprehended.

Turkey

10 refugees dead as vehicle hits shop

At least 10 illegal migrants were killed and 30 others injured on Wednesday as their panel van plowed into a shop in Turkey's northwestern province of Edirne. The driver did not obey the stop warning of police forces and tried to escape, but the vehicle hit a shop located at a crossroad in central Meric district, said a written statement issued by the Edirne governor's office. The statement does not identify the nationalities of the illegal migrants aboard the van. Edirne Province, which has five main border gates with Bulgaria and Greece, is a favorite route for illegal migration into Europe.

United Nations

Cocaine production hit new record in 2017

Global cocaine production reached an all-time high in 2017, breaking the previous year's record by 25 percent, the UN drugs and crime agency said on Wednesday in a report, as production soared in post-conflict Colombia. New remote fields and criminal gangs boosted production in the world's top supplier, despite efforts to steer rural communities away from coca cultivation following a peace deal with FARC rebels in Colombia. In the decade to 2017, there was a 50 percent increase in cocaine production, reaching a record 1,976 tons two years ago, the report said.

Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 06/27/2019 page12)