MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a meeting Friday with his Belarusian ally, who suggested that Minsk could could join Moscow's efforts to revive an old alliance with Pyongyang after this week’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
DERNA, Libya (AP) — The death toll in Libya's coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300 as search efforts continue following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains, the Libyan Red Crescent said Thursday. Marie el-Drese, secretary-general of aid group, told The Associated Press by phone that a further 10,100 are reported missing in the Mediterranean city. Health authorities previously had put the death toll in Derna at 5,500.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The luxury cruise ship MV Ocean Explorer was “successfully” pulled free in Greenland on Thursday, three days after running aground with 206 people on board, authorities and the ship's owner said. The ship was freed by a fisheries research vessel at high tide, said the cruise ship's owner, Copenhagen-based SunStone Ships and the Arctic Command, which had been coordinating the operation.
AMIZMIZ, Morocco (AP) — Rachid Alachoun, a 40-year-old plumber, washes clothes on the roof of his home. Half of it remains standing while the other half can be found in piles of rocks visible from the roof. Alachoun is among the survivors near the epicenter of an earthquake that hit Morocco last Friday. Authorities have reported 2,946 deaths and several thousand injuries.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was expected to tour a Russian plant that builds fighter jets and visit the country’s Pacific Fleet, but his exact whereabouts remained uncertain Thursday following a summit at which he expressed unconditional support for Moscow.
DERNA, Libya (AP) — Search teams combed streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea Wednesday to look for bodies in a coastal Libyan city where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed at least 5,100 people. The Mediterranean city of Derna has struggled to get help after Sunday night’s deluge washed away most access roads.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un vowed “full and unconditional support” for Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Wednesday as the two leaders isolated by the West held a summit that the U.S. warns could lead to a deal to supply ammunition for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
IMI N'TALA, Morocco (AP) — The stench of death wafted through the village of Imi N’Tala high up in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, where last week's catastrophic earthquake razed the hamlet's mud-brick buildings and killed dozens of residents. Bulldozers and responders have been digging through the wreckage around the clock in the hopes of finding the eight to 10 corpses still underneath, even as an aftershock Wednesday evening rattled already frayed nerves.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian attack on a strategic shipyard early Wednesday in Russia-annexed Crimea wounded 24 people, damaged two ships undergoing repairs and caused a fire at the facility, Russian authorities reported. The attack in the port city of Sevastopol, which serves as the main base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet, took place as Moscow launched drones against southern Ukraine's Odesa region.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A fire in a nine-story apartment building in Vietnam's capital killed at least 56 people, including at least four children, while 37 more are being treated, state media reported citing the police. Of the 56 people confirmed dead, the police have identified 39 victims, the state-owned Viet Nam News said Wednesday evening.