All About: Tanzania ferry death, Opposition leader Solih, Tripoli clashes, Cuba's new president

Tanzanian authorities said on Sunday the number of people who died in a ferry that capsized in Lake Victoria had risen to 224 and the vessel's managers had been detained for questioning.

 

Tanzania ferry death toll rises to 224, ship's managers detained

Tanzanian authorities said on Sunday the number of people who died in a ferry that capsized in Lake Victoria had risen to 224 and the vessel's managers had been detained for questioning. The ferry, MV Nyerere, sank on Thursday evening just a few meters from the dock on Ukerewe, the lake's biggest island.

Opposition leader Solih says he has won Maldives election

Maldives opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who fought a bitter election campaign against President Abdulla Yameen, said he had won Sunday's presidential vote with a 16 percent margin after 92 percent of the votes had been counted. Provisional results counted in 446 of 472 ballot boxes by 1943 GMT showed the opposition leading by a margin of 16.6 percent, news website Mihaaru reported.

Tripoli clashes leave 115 dead, 383 injured- health ministry

At least 115 people have been killed and 383 injured in month-long clashes between rival factions in Tripoli, Libya’s health ministry said on Sunday. The fighting pitted the Seventh Brigade, or Kaniyat, from Tarhouna, a town 65 km (45 miles) southeast of Tripoli, against the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades (TRB) and the Nawasi, two of the capital’s largest armed groups.

Cuba's new president makes first trip to old Cold War foe United States

Cuba's new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, arrived in New York on Sunday for his first trip to the United States, where he will denounce the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on his country at the U.N. General Assembly, state-run media reported. Tensions have heightened between the Cold War foes after U.S. President Donald Trump tightened the embargo last year following the resumption of diplomatic relations under his predecessor, Barack Obama. Washington also alleged a series of health attacks had taken place on U.S. diplomats in Havana.

Britain's opposition Labour backs new election to solve Brexit

Britain's opposition Labour Party prefers a new election to the second referendum on Brexit, its leader said on Sunday, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May whose plans for a divorce deal with the European Union have hit an impasse. Labour's Jeremy Corbyn has so far resisted calls to back a "People's Vote", or new referendum on the decision to quit the EU. But the political landscape has changed since May was ambushed by the EU on Thursday over her plans for Brexit - the biggest shift in British policy for almost half a century.

Panama revokes registration of last migrant rescue ship in central Mediterranean

The Panama Maritime Authority has revoked the registration of search and rescue ship Aquarius 2 in a move that means there will be no charity rescue ships off the Libyan coast in the near future unless the vessel can find a new flag to sail under. Aquarius 2, the one remaining charity rescue vessel still operating in the Central Mediterranean area, is currently at sea with 58 survivors on board.

German coalition avoids split with solution to spymaster crisis

Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition resolved a dispute over Germany's scandal-tainted spymaster on Sunday, ending a crisis that had prompted concerns the six-month-old government could fall apart. The three coalition parties had agreed on Tuesday to transfer spy chief Hans-Georg Maassen to the Interior Ministry following accusations that he harbored far-right views. Maassen had questioned the authenticity of video footage showing radicals hounding migrants in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

At least one killed as protests rock Nicaragua; Ortega defiant

Police and supporters of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega clashed in Managua on Sunday with demonstrators calling for the release of people imprisoned during recent protests, leaving at least one person dead, authorities said. Hundreds of protesters carrying Nicaragua's blue and white flag massed in the eastern part of the capital in the morning after squads of police prevented the demonstrators from reaching the city center.

Rouhani says U.S. wants to cause insecurity in Iran but will not succeed

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday the United States wants to create insecurity in the Islamic Republic a day after an attack on a military parade that killed members of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards. Speaking before leaving Tehran to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Rouhani accused U.S.-backed Gulf Arab states of providing financial and military support for anti-government ethnic Arab groups.

Among leaders making U.N. debut: a new mother with baby in tow

At the United Nations this week, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has to contend with some daunting challenges - her debut before world leaders and the sleep schedule of her 3-month-old baby. The 38-year-old Ardern has made global headlines since coming to power last October when she became only the second elected leader to give birth while in office after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990.