Island nation Kiribati cuts Taiwan ties
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Pacific island nation of Kiribati cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan on Friday, becoming the second country to do so this week and strengthening Beijing's hand.
Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that Kiribati had officially notified his government of the decision.
Kiribati is expected to recognize China, which has pledged billions of dollars in aid to help lure it and six other countries into switching allegiance since 2016, when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took office.
Taiwan "deeply regrets and strongly condemns the Kiribati government's decision, which disregards the multifaceted assistance and sincere friendship extended by Taiwan to Kiribati over the years," Wu said at a news conference.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang commended Kiribati's switch, which comes four days after the Solomon Islands, once Taiwan's largest ally in the South Pacific, severed ties in favor of China.
China claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan and wants the island to reunite with the mainland. The two split in 1949 during a civil war. Beijing resents Tsai for rejecting its precondition for dialogue that both belong to a single China. It has flown military aircraft near the island and pared back Taiwan-bound tourism to add pressure on the government.
Taiwan has 15 allies left, compared with about 180 countries that recognize China.
Zimbabwe doctor freed, activists say
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- A Zimbabwean doctor whose alleged abduction led to days of protests has been freed, activists announced Friday, as the government asserted he had simply been missing. The disappearance had raised fresh concerns about dozens of abductions of government critics this year.
The president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Peter Magombeyi, was released overnight into the custody of his lawyers, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum said. A police statement said he had "been found by police."
There were no immediate details of his condition, and Magombeyi was being treated at a hospital in the capital, Harare. The government's information ministry said police efforts to debrief him were not working "as he prefers not to speak to the authorities."
More than 50 government critics and activists have been abducted in Zimbabwe this year, at times tortured and warned by suspected state security agents to back off from anti-government actions. One woman was forced to drink raw sewage, Human Rights Watch has said.
Magombeyi was seized Saturday after calling for a pay strike as Zimbabwe's health care system collapses along with the southern African nation's economy.
Bus blast kills 12 outside Iraqi holy city
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi security officials say the death toll in an explosion on a minibus late Friday outside the Shiite holy city of Karbala has climbed to 12.
According to the officials, five passengers were also wounded in the blast, which occurred as the bus was passing through an Iraqi army checkpoint between Karbala and the town of al-Hilla.
The officials said all of those killed were civilians who died in the explosion and subsequent fire. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which took place during a holy period marked by Shiites in Iraq between two important religious events, Ashoura and Arbaeen.
Hurricane takes aim at at Baja resorts
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico -- Hurricane Lorena neared Mexico's resort-studded Los Cabos area Friday as owners pulled their boats from the water, tourists hunkered down in hotels, and police and soldiers went through low-lying, low-income neighborhoods urging people to evacuate.
Lorena was forecast to pass over or near the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula on Friday afternoon with heavy winds and soaking rains, and locals who have been through past hurricanes were taking no chances.
Authorities in Los Cabos said 787 people have taken refuge at 18 storm shelters. Local security forces urged residents in low-lying areas to evacuate even as some tourists continued to stroll along the streets.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami upgraded Lorena to a Category 1 hurricane early Friday. By the afternoon it had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was about 35 miles away, moving toward Cabo San Lucas at 6 mph. Forecasters predicted damaging winds, flash flooding and life threatening surf along the peninsula.
Lorena was kicking up heavy waves at the twin resorts of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.
Civil defense official Carlos Godinez said Friday that an American tourist who went to the beach in Los Cabos with his son died after being swept out to sea. The son survived. But Godinez said the death occurred early Thursday, before beach access was restricted, and that it was "not necessarily attributable" to Lorena.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 09/21/2019