Arab League rejects federal govt for Syria
CAIRO • The Arab League yesterday rejected Kurdish- led moves for a federal system of government in Syria, charging that they would lead to the break-up of the war-torn country.
Washington has said it will not recognise any autonomous regions the Kurds and their allies set up under their planned federation and that Syria's future system of government is something to be negotiated in the United Nations talks. But it has also said that it will continue to work closely with the Kurds, whom it regards as the most effective fighting force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Debris brought to Australia for tests
SYDNEY • Two pieces of debris found in Mozambique have arrived in Australia for experts to determine if they came from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, an official said yesterday.
A huge search for the Boeing 777, thought to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean in 2014, has so far failed to find any wreckage, although a piece of wing washed up last year on a distant island.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Fiji extends state of natural disaster
SYDNEY • Fiji's government said yesterday it would extend for another month a state of natural disaster in areas of the country still reeling from the impact of a super cyclone, which hit the country last month.
Cyclone Winston, which was the worst storm ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, hit the South Pacific archipelago particularly hard, killing 43 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
REUTERS
Briton charged in German tax case
FRANKFURT • German prosecutors have charged a British national with conspiring to evade taxes worth €136 million (S$208 million) while buying and selling carbon emissions certificates.
The 58-year-old Briton, who was not named for legal reasons, was the mastermind of the scheme via a Dubai-based firm he controlled as well as through four companies based in Germany, the Frankfurt prosecutor said yesterday, adding that he was helped by accomplices.
REUTERS
