IN BRIEF (Page 12)

YEMEN

40 killed, 260 wounded in clashes in Aden

Fighting between pro-government forces and separatists in Yemen's second city Aden has killed around 40 people and injured 260 others including civilians, the United Nations said on Sunday. "It is heartbreaking that during Eid al-Adha (a Muslim holiday), families are mourning the death of their loved ones instead of celebrating together in peace and harmony," UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Lise Grande said. "Our main concern right now is to dispatch medical teams to rescue the injured," she said. "We are also very worried by reports that civilians trapped in their homes are running out of food and water."

UNITED KINGDOM

Govt boosts prisons and police powers

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is promising more prisons and stronger police powers in an effort to fight violent crime. The government announced plans on Sunday to create 10,000 more prison places to ease overcrowding and said it would allow police to stop and search people without reasonable suspicion "if serious violence is anticipated". Such powers are contentious because young ethnic-minority men are disproportionately likely to be stopped and searched. Opposition Labour Party law-and-order spokeswoman Diane Abbott said it was "a tried-and-tested recipe for unrest, not violence reduction".

LIBYA

UN condemns car bomb attack killing 3 staffers

The United Nations condemned a car-bomb attack in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday, which killed three UN workers and injured several others, the UN said. The UN victims served with the UN Support Mission in Libya. The attack took place outside Arkan Mall in the Hawari neighborhood, as a convoy of UN vehicles was passing the venue, a local source said. The Benghazi municipal council said that the attack targeted the convoy. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 08/12/2019 page12)