Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 16 November 2017
Iran earthquake:
Survivors, sleeping on rubble, ask for help
By NASSER KARIMI earthquake, which killed nantly Kurdish regions.
MOHAMMAD NASIRI more than 530 people and Public order broke down in
Associated Press injured thousands. Survivors many areas as aid came
SARPOL-E-ZAHAB, Iran (AP) in other towns and villages in, with families not affect-
— In a western Iranian town nestled in the Zagros Moun- ed by the quake carting off
devastated by this week’s tains face the same tough aid intended for survivors,
powerful earthquake, fami- conditions, still awaiting according to officials, who
lies are sleeping on the badly needed aid three say police have been de-
rubble of their homes and days later. ployed to prevent further
Earthquake survivors mourn in front of destroyed houses in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran,
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. Survivors are waiting for badly needed aid, three days after a powerful
earthquake along the Iraq border killed hundreds and left thousands injured.
(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
were fashioning reed shel- Iranian officials from Su- siphoning.
ters to offer protection from preme Leader Ayatollah Ali Many in the Kurdish town of
the elements on Wednes- Khamenei on down have Sarpol-e-Zahab, home to
day, saying authorities urged quick distribution of half the casualties from the
haven’t delivered enough supplies and relief material. temblor, told The Associat-
tents ahead of the fast-ap- However, logistical prob- ed Press that they still have
proaching winter. lems, alleged theft and not received aid and that
Icy rains will be coming soon other issues have plagued they need help to remove
to Sarpol-e-Zahab, hard hit the response to the disaster debris so they can retrieve
by Sunday’s 7.3 magnitude in one of Iran’s predomi- essential belongings.q
In Somalia:
US drone strike kills ‘several’ with al-Shabab
By ABDI GULED fighters. Since last Thurs- capital, Mogadishu, and
Associated Press day, drone strikes in Soma- occurred in coordination
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) lia against both extremist with Somalia’s government.
— The U.S. military said groups have killed more Al-Shabab, the deadliest Is-
Wednesday it has carried than 45 fighters, the U.S. lamic extremist group in Af- for North Korea, but few experts share Trump’s assess-
out another drone strike military said. This is the busi- rica, has been blamed for
against al-Shabab in So- est stretch of airstrikes since the massive truck bombing
malia that killed several the Trump administration in Mogadishu last month
extremists, the latest in a earlier this year approved that killed more than 350
weeklong series of strikes expanded military opera- people. It was Somalia’s
that have left dozens dead. tions against extremists in worst-ever attack and one
The U.S. Africa Command this long-fractured Horn of of the world’s deadliest
said it was the 28th such Africa nation. in years. The Islamic State
airstrike this year in Soma- Wednesday’s statement group has emerged in So- weapons in combat.
lia against both the al-Qa- said the latest airstrike was malia over the past two
ida-linked al-Shabab and carried out Tuesday eve- years and many of its fight-
the new but growing pres- ning about 60 miles (96 ki- ers have defected from al-
ence of Islamic State group lometers) northwest of the Shabab.q
Analysis: Progress by China envoy
in North Korea won’t be very easy
By ERIC TALMADGE
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — With all the verbal barbs flying between
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President
Donald Trump these days, China’s decision to send its
most senior official to North Korea in more than two
years could be a welcome opportunity to defuse the
growing tensions between Washington and Pyong-
yang.
But the way things are going, it could just as well turn
out to be little more than a diplomatic courtesy.
Song Tao, the head of China’s ruling Communist Par-
ty’s international department, will travel to Pyongyang
on Friday to report on the party’s national congress
held last month, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Song, as president and party leader Xi Jinping’s spe-
cial envoy, will reportedly also carry out a “visit” in ad-
dition to delivering the briefing.
The announcement of the visit Wednesday seems es-
pecially timely because it comes a day after Trump
wrapped up his extended tour of Asia. The tour took
him to three major players in the regional effort to
pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions
— Japan, South Korea and China. China is the linch-
pin of any such effort, and in Beijing Trump said it can
fix the North Korea problem “easily and quickly.” He
urged Xi to “work on it very hard.”
It’s quite possible Xi wants to explore new relations with
North Korea as he starts his second term in office.
Beijing does not want to invite chaos on its border
by pushing Pyongyang into a crisis, and the focus on
North Korea has worked to China’s benefit in so far
as it has deflected Washington’s attention away from
Beijing’s moves to exert more control over the South
and East China seas.
But Chinese officials share Washington’s opposition to
Pyongyang’s development of its nuclear arsenal and
long-range missile programs.
Some North Korea watchers suggest China, which
while agreeing to sanctions has consistently stressed
the need for engagement and dialogue, might be
mulling the possibility of a summit with Kim, who has
yet to travel overseas or meet a foreign head of state
since assuming power in late 2011.
Song’s visit, however, will more likely be about small
steps than big successes.
It’s customary for China to send an official to Pyong-
yang after significant events such as party congresses,
which are only held once every five years. So the brief-
ing aspect is largely a formality.
While Song would be the first ministerial-level Chinese
official to visit North Korea since October 2015, he is
not directly connected to China’s efforts to convince
Pyongyang to cease its nuclear weapons program
and return to talks. So flashy breakthroughs on that
front aren’t likely.
China is an essential trading partner and source of fuel
ment that pressure from Beijing could offer the kind of
quick or easy fix that the United States is looking for.
North Korea has time and again said it has no inten-
tion of backing away from its nuclear program.
It sees the program as a justified and necessary means
of national self-defense in the face of an enemy that
is not only the world’s most advanced nuclear power
but also the only country to have ever used nuclear
Pyongyang has also been increasingly critical of what
it sees as China’s willingness to deal with Trump, de-
spite Chinese-North Korean economic ties and history
as comrades in arms during the 1950-53 Korean War.q