The death toll from Thursday’s attack by suspected jihadists on a Niger army base has risen to at least 89, four security sources said, surpassing a raid last month that killed 71 soldiers as the deadliest against Nigerien forces in years. The government said Thursday that 25 soldiers had been killed, according to a provisional toll, while successfully repelling the attack by assailants aboard motorcycles and other vehicles in the western town of Chinagodrar. Four security sources told Reuters that at least 89 members of Niger’s security forces killed in the attack were buried Saturday in the capital, Niamey. One source said the actual death toll was most likely higher because some soldiers were buried immediately Thursday in Chinagodrar. Defense Minister Issoufou Katambe said that an updated death toll would be announced after a national security council meeting on Sunday. Deteriorating situationThe Chinagodrar attack, coming a month after the raid in nearby Inates by fighters from an Islamic State affiliate that killed 71 soldiers, highlights the deteriorating security situation near Niger’s borders with Mali and Burkina Faso. Attacks have risen fourfold over the past year in Niger, killing nearly 400 people, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a nonprofit research organization, despite efforts by international forces to stop militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida. French fighter jets were scrambled Thursday to scare off the attackers, France’s regional task force said, possibly averting an even heavier casualty count. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Katambe said Friday that the army would launch a new offensive against jihadists. West Africa’s Sahel region, a semiarid belt beneath the Sahara, has been in crisis since 2012, when ethnic Tuareg rebels and loosely aligned jihadists seized the northern two-thirds of Mali, forcing France to intervene to temporarily beat them back. 
…

Oman’s venerable ruler, Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, who ruled his strategic Gulf emirate — adjacent to Iran — for nearly 50 years, has died after a long illness. The country’s royal family chose the late Sultan’s cousin, Haitham Bin Tariq, to succeed him, in accordance with his last testament.Oman’s royal family met Saturday, following the death overnight of the late Sultan Qaboos, and appointed his cousin, Haitham Bin Tariq, to succeed him. The appointment was made after top family members and military officials read aloud the last testament of Sultan Qaboos.A military honor guard fired a ceremonial cannon to honor the late Sultan as his successor presided over the official transition.Many of the hundreds of Omanis who lined the route of Sultan Qaboos’ funeral cortege broke into tears and sobbed as his body was taken to a royal cemetery for burial. Qaboos, who succeeded his father in a bloodless coup in 1970, was the only ruler most Omanis had ever known.Qaboos, who studied at Britain’s famous Sandhurst Military Academy, fought a leftist insurgency when he first came to power, and he then presided over one of the more stable nations in the turbulent region. The late Sultan had no children.Oman’s new sultan, Haitham Bin Tariq, told those gathered to hear his inaugural speech he would follow the path of his predecessor in foreign policy, which he said included “peaceful coexistence between peoples and nations, good neighborly relations, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, respecting the sovereignty of all nations, and cooperation with everyone.”Sultan Qaboos, whose family has governed Oman since 1741, made a point of keeping good relations with both Iran and all of his Gulf neighbors. He refused to take sides during Iran’s 8-year conflict with Iraq during the 1980s, and he maintained a neutral stance in the more recent conflict between Qatar and Gulf Cooperation Council neighbors Saudi Arabia and the UAE.Oman played a key role in mediation between the U.S. and Iran during negotiations on the 2015 nuclear accord (JCPOA) between the G-5 countries, plus Germany.Washington-based Gulf analyst Theodore Karasik tells VOA the “passing of Qaboos is a major moment in the region … because of the influence the sultan projected, most of the time very quietly.” Karasik adds that he expects to see “the same pragmatism” under the new Sultan Haitham.
…

Authorities in Louisiana said Saturday said at least three people have died in connection with a severe storm that is sweeping across parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southeast.The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office said on its Facebook page that the bodies of an elderly couple were found near their demolished trailer by firefighters. A search for more possible victims was underway.The Sheriff’s Office also said the roof of Benton Middle School was damaged and “that water damage from the sprinkler system has flooded many rooms.”In Arkansas and Missouri, tornadoes destroyed homes and also caused damage in Oklahoma.The national Storm Prediction Center said Friday more than 18 million people in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma were at an enhanced risk of storms Friday, including from strong tornadoes, flooding rains and wind gusts that could exceed 80 mph (129 kph), the speed of a Category 1 hurricane. The area included several major Texas cities including Dallas, Houston and Austin.The storms also unleashed downpours that caused widespread flash flooding. Dallas police said one person died when a car flipped into Five Mile Creek west of downtown Dallas about 7 p.m.Earlier in the afternoon, a tornado destroyed two homes near Fair Play, Missouri, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Springfield. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said no injuries were reported.Shortly before 3 p.m., a tornado stripped the shingles from the roof of a home near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa. No injuries were reported there either.What the NWS described as “a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado” roared through parts of Logan County, Arkansas, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Fort Smith on Friday night.At least three homes were destroyed by the Arkansas tornado, said Logan County Emergency Management Coordinator Tobi Miller, but no injuries were reported. Downed trees and power lines were widespread, she said.Miller said the tornado skirted her home in Subiaco, Arkansas. She said she heard but couldn’t see the rain-wrapped twister in the dark.Ahead of the storms, Dallas’ Office of Emergency Management asked residents to bring in pets, outdoor furniture, grills, “and anything else that could be caught up in high winds to reduce the risk of flying debris.”Such strong winds are a key concern in an area at greatest risk: A zone that includes parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas, the Storm Prediction Center warned. Weather service meteorologists in northern Louisiana said that such a dire forecast for the area is only issued two to four times each year, on average.In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said boats, helicopters, medical and rescue teams had been placed on standby in case they are needed.“I ask that all Texans keep those in the storm’s path and all of Texas’ first responders in their prayers as they deal with the effects of this storm,” Abbott said in a statement.Wicked weather also will pose a threat to Alabama and Georgia as the system moves eastward on Saturday, forecasters said.Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Friday the state was making necessary preparations ahead of the potential weather.“At the state level, we continue to closely monitor this storm system, while making all necessary preparations,” Ivey said in a statement. “I encourage all Alabamians to do the same, stay weather aware and heed all local warnings.”On Alabama’s Gulf Coast, Baldwin County canceled school activities including sporting events for Saturday. The weather service warned of flooding and the potential for 10-foot-high (3-meter-high) waves on beaches, where northern visitors escaping the cold are a common sight during the winter.Heavy rains also could cause flooding across the South and part of the Midwest.Many streams already are at or near flood levels because of earlier storms, and heavy rains could lead to flash flooding across the region, forecasters said. Parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were under flash flood warnings or watches on Saturday.
…

A magnitude 6.0 quake shook Puerto Rico on Saturday, causing further damage along the island’s southern coast, where previous recent quakes have toppled homes and schools.The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Indios at a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers).Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority said outages were reported across much of southern Puerto Rico and crews were assessing possible damage at power plants.There were no immediate reports of injuries.It was the strongest shake yet since a magnitude 6.4 quake struck before dawn on Tuesday, knocking out power across the island and leaving many without water. More than 2,000 people remain in shelters, many fearful of returning to their homes, and others unable to because of extensive damage.Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are still without power and water, and thousands are staying in shelters and sleeping on sidewalks since Tuesday’s earthquake. That temblor killed one person, injured nine others and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and several schools and businesses in the island’s southwest region.
…

North Korea will not resume nuclear talks unless the United States unconditionally accepts its demands, a senior North Korean official said Saturday.“We have wasted our time with U.S. for more than a year and a half,” said Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.Kim, a senior diplomat, said Kim Jong Un’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump remains positive, noting that Kim recently received birthday greetings from Trump.“But it is a personal thing and our chairman, who represents the state and works for the benefit of the state, will not make decisions based on his personal relationship,” Kim added.”For dialogue to happen, the U.S. must unconditionally accept our demands. However, we know that the U.S. is not ready to do so, or cannot do so,” he added.The North Korean diplomat did not say what North Korea is demanding. North Korea regularly complains about U.S. and international sanctions, as well as joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises and weapons sales.Two years into dialogue with North Korea, the only apparent remnant is the occasional Trump-Kim letter. Even that relationship may be at risk, however, if North Korea resumes longer-range missile or nuclear tests, as it has been hinting.“Personal relationships at the top can get a dialogue going, but personal relations alone don’t result in deals,” said Daniel DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based research organization. “This is what Trump doesn’t appear to understand. He’s banking on his ‘friendship’ with Kim to lead the way to denuclearization.”“Friendship or not, denuclearization left the barn a long time ago,” DePetris added.Many analysts are pessimistic about the short-term chances for talks.“North Korea has made clear it will not return to the talks unless the U.S. offers new proposals,” Kim Dong Yub, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said at a Seoul conference Friday.
 
The North Korean leader has not likely abandoned talks altogether, however, Kim said. “The U.S. is the only country that can help North Korea be a normal nation in the international community,” he added. 
…

BURRAGATE, Australia — Two wildfires merged to form a massive inferno in southeast Australia Saturday, near where a man suffered serious burns protecting a home during a night of treacherous conditions during the nation’s unprecedented fire crisis.Authorities were assessing the damage after firefighters battled flames fanned by strong winds through the night and lightning strikes sparked new blazes in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia’s most populous states. Conditions were milder Saturday and forecast to remain relatively benign for the next week.“In the scheme of things, we did OK last night,” Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said.New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters that officials were “extremely relieved” the fires were not been more destructive overnight.Burned power lines are seen in Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020.Firefighting injuriesA man suffered burns protecting a home near Tumbarumba in southern New South Wales and was airlifted to a Sydney hospital in serious condition to undergo surgery, Fitzsimmons said.Several firefighters received minor burns, and one suffered shortness of breath but were not admitted to a hospital, he said.With no heavy rain expected, the 640,000-hectare (1.58 million-acre) blaze that formed overnight when two fires joined in the Snowy Mountains region near Tumbarumba close to the Victorian border is expected to burn for weeks, officials said.Since September, the fires have killed at least 26 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched an area larger than the U.S. state of Indiana.The crisis also has brought accusations that Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative government needs to take more action to counter climate change, which experts say worsens the blazes. Thousands of protesters rallied late Friday in Sydney and Melbourne, calling for Morrison to be fired and for Australia to take tougher action on global warming.The protesters carried placards saying, “We deserve more than your negligence,” “This is ecosystem collapse” and “We can’t breathe,” referring to wildfire smoke that has choked both cities.Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal and liquid natural gas. Australians are also among the worst greenhouse gas emitters per capita.On Friday, thousands of people in the path of fires fled to evacuation centers, while some chose to ignore evacuation orders and stayed to defend their homes.Evan Harris owns this mud brick house, where he prepared to minimize fire impact at Burragate, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020, as a nearby fire threatens the area.Wake-up call for peopleEvan Harris, who lives in the New South Wales rural village of Burragate, said police and fire crews told him he should leave his cottage because of the threat. He told them he wasn’t going anywhere.Burragate was choked with smoke for several hours Friday and was directly in a fire’s path.A fire strike team and several members of the Australian Army arrived to try to save properties, and they were prepared to hunker down in a fire station if the flames overran them.In the end, the winds died down and so did the fire. But crews worry the flames will flare again during a fire season that could continue for months.Harris said he likes to live off the grid in his remote home, which is made from mud bricks. He has no electricity, instead using batteries to power the lights and a small wood burner to heat water. Harris feels like he has a point to make.Evan Harris prepares his property to minimize the fire impact at Burragate, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020, as a nearby fire threatens the area.“If this house survives, I think it will be a bit of a wake-up call for people,” he said. “That maybe people should start building like this, instead of over-exorbitant houses.”Harris prepared for the blazes by tacking sheets of iron over his windows and clearing the area around the house of grass and shrubbery that might have caught fire. He dug a hole away from the cottage to house his gas canisters.Harris said he was disappointed in the environmental destruction and that people should be paying attention to the more sustainable way that indigenous Australians previously lived.“This is a result of the human species demanding too much of the environment,” he said of the wildfires.
 
…

A 61-year-old man has died from pneumonia in the central Chinese city of Wuhan after an outbreak of a yet to be identified virus while seven others are in critical condition, the Wuhan health authorities said Saturday.In total, 41 people have been diagnosed with the pathogen, which preliminary lab tests cited by Chinese state media earlier this week pointed to a new type of coronavirus, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said in a statement on its website.Two of them have been discharged from the hospital and the rest are in stable condition, while 739 people deemed to have been in close contact with the patients have been cleared, it said.The man, the first victim of the outbreak that began in December, was a regular buyer at a seafood market in the city and had been previously diagnosed with abdominal tumors and chronic liver disease, the health authority said.Treatments did not improve his symptoms after he was admitted to hospital and he died Jan. 9 when his heart failed. He tested positive for the virus.Outbreak centers on seafood marketThe commission added that no new cases had been detected since Jan. 3.The Wuhan health authority also said that the patients were mainly vendors and purchasers at the seafood market, and that to date no medical staff had been infected, nor had clear evidence of human-to-human transmission been found.The World Health Organization said Thursday that a newly emerging member of the family of viruses that caused the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks, could be the cause of the present outbreak.Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause infections ranging from the common cold to SARS. Some of the virus types cause less serious disease, while some like the one that causes MERS, are far more severe.The outbreak comes ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays in late January, when many of China’s 1.4 billion people will be traveling to their home towns or abroad. The Chinese government expects passengers to make 440 million trips via rail and another 79 million trips via airplanes, officials told a news briefing Thursday.Take precautionsThe Wuhan health authority in its statement also urged the public to take more precautions against infectious diseases, and said it was pushing ahead with tests to diagnose the pathogen and as of Friday had completed nucleic acid tests.Hong Kong’s Department of Health said in a separate statement Saturday that it strengthened checks and cleaning measures at all border check points, including the port, airport and the city’s high-speed rail station which receives passengers from Wuhan city.In 2003, Chinese officials covered up a SARS outbreak for weeks before a growing death toll and rumors forced the government to reveal the epidemic. The disease spread rapidly to other cities and countries. More than 8,000 people were infected and 775 died.
…

Taiwanese voters headed to the polls Saturday morning to pick a president in an election dominated by how the government should handle its political rival: China. Some are casting votes for the incumbent Tsai Ing-wen, who takes a tough stance toward Beijing. A lot are going instead for Han Kuo-yu, rising-star mayor who wants closer economic ties with China.Voters lined up in thick crowds outside Taiwan’s polling stations Saturday morning in an early sign of strong turnout in a presidential election that will chart the future of the island’s relations with China.The government in Beijing considers Taiwan part of its own territory that must eventually unify with China. But Taiwanese said in surveys last year they prefer today’s democratic self-rule over unification. Anti-China protests in Hong Kong over the past months raised fear among some Taiwanese voters of what life might be like under rule by Beijing. China has ruled Hong Kong for more than 20 years.Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen arrives to cast her vote at a polling station during general elections in New Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan, Jan. 11, 2020.Big issue: ChinaSaturday’s vote in Taiwan is widely expected to reflect sentiments toward China.Chen Li-chin, a 43-year-old mother from suburban Taipei, decided to vote for incumbent Tsai Ing-wen because the president has shown a willingness to resist China.Chen says what the government should do is protect Taiwan’s democracy and that’s the most important thing. She said that in comparing candidates, she prefers Tsai Ing-wen. Taiwan’s cooperative relations with China, she adds, can be done state to state as long as China doesn’t take Taiwan to be part of its own country.Tsai, a 63-year-old U.S.-educated law scholar, advocates dialogue with China only if the communist leadership in Beijing drops conditions that Taiwan considers itself part of China.She has spoken in favor of Hong Kong’s protesters and said Taiwanese cannot accept the “one country, two systems” type of rule that Beijing uses now to govern Hong Kong. Chinese President Xi Jinping advocate the same scheme for Taiwan in a speech a year ago this month.Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang Party presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu votes at a polling station during general elections in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Jan. 11, 2020.Trade and investmentTsai is running against Han Kuo-yu of the Nationalist party, also called the KMT. Han is the 62-year-old mayor of Taiwan’s chief port city Kaohsiung. He says he wants to start talks with China on trade and investment matters that would benefit Taiwan’s export-reliant economy. His party says that dialogue would not compromise Taiwan’s self-rule.His policies follow from those of ex-president Ma Ying-jeou. Over Ma’s eight years in office before 2016, China and Taiwan signed more than 20 trade and investment deals while setting aside the political dispute. But by 2014 many Taiwanese feared Ma was getting dangerously cozy with China and staged mass street protests in Taipei.Some voters, however, still see dialogue as the best solution. Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese invest in China or sell goods to its vast consumer market.Voter Tony Hong, a 67-year-old retired public servant from central Taiwan, had picked Han as his candidate.He says that relations with China are of top importance and that of course the two sides should talk more. He calls dialogue an advantage in peace for both sides but says China should respect Taiwan’s freedom and democracy.Parliament on ballotTaiwanese will also elect a new 113-seat parliament Saturday. The legislature now controlled by Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party allocates the foreign affairs budget and can pass laws related to China. Last month parliament approved a bill that outlaws infiltration by China through junkets, campaign contributions and other election influence.Taiwan’s Central Election Commission halted campaigning Saturday. Campaign rallies, concerts and street parades with booming drumrolls lasted past 11 p.m. Friday. Election tampering or other major voting gaffes are rare in Taiwan. Local television networks showed both major candidates casting ballots with a smile and a wave.Ballot counting is set to start when polls close at 4 p.m. Election results normally emerge within hours.
…

The U.N. Security Council voted Friday to allow scaled-back cross-border humanitarian aid operations to continue into Syria, adopting a resolution just hours before the operations were due to expire.Russia won its push to cut back the number of crossing points from four to two, and to guarantee they continue only for an additional six months, instead of the one year several other council members sought.“We find ourselves in this situation because the Russian Federation has decided to use deprivation as a weapon against the Syrian people,” U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said. “This is a crisis of Russia’s making; it is theirs to own.”The U.N. and its partners have been delivering aid via several border points since 2014, reaching about 4 million needy Syrians. But the government of Bashar al-Assad no longer wants the deliveries to continue, as they try to stamp out the last rebel strongholds.Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, seen in this Aug. 9 file photo, echoed one of his government’s ministers who said it is ‘another unfriendly move by the United States.’“ll these cries about imminent catastrophe, disaster, which the northeast faces if we close one cross-border point, is totally irrelevant because humanitarian assistance to that region is coming from within Syria for a long time, and it will continue to come,” Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters. “What we are saying is that the situation on the ground has changed dramatically and we have to reflect it.”Russia succeeded in getting the Yarubiyah crossing from Iraq into Syria closed, and dropping another crossing point from Jordan that has not been used recently. Two crossings from Turkey into northwestern Syria will remain.In practical terms, Yarubiyah means medical aid for chronic illnesses, vaccines and trauma cases to about 1.4 million Syrians will not be able to get into northeastern Syria.  Several council members were bitter about being forced to accept this compromise.“We supported the resolution to save millions of lives in Idlib, but we strongly voice our discontent for how this result was achieved,” Estonian Ambassador Sven Jurgenson, a new council member, said. “Instead of cooperation, the preferred means of negotiations by the Russian Federation were blackmailing and presenting other parties with ultimatums.”Karen Pierce, the U.K. ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria at U.N. headquarters in New York, April 14, 2018.Britain’s envoy said that while a serious diplomatic effort was made to keep the crossings open, ultimately the deal is “a woefully inadequate response” to the situation on the ground.““The exclusion of any border crossing into northeastern Syria is, in our view, deeply regrettable and it puts the lives of thousands of civilians at risk in Syria,” Ambassador Karen Pierce said.  The council tried last month to broker a compromise effort to extend the mission for another year and keep the two Turkish crossing points, as well as Yarubiyah in Iraq. But it failed after Russia cast its 14th veto since the crisis started in 2011, in order to further the interests of the Assad regime. At the time, China also joined Russia in vetoing.  On Friday, Britain, China, Russia and the United States all abstained from the vote. All were unhappy with the final draft resolution, but none wanted to be seen to be blocking humanitarian aid operations.  Until Friday, about 4 million Syrians were receiving aid via cross-border operations. In the northwest, they reached 2.7 million people and another 1.3 million in the northeast.“We did everything to keep that alive so that these 2.7 million people will continue to get humanitarian aid,” Germany’s ambassador and co-author of the draft resolution said. But he warned that the decision “comes at a very heavy price.““Tomorrow morning, 1.4 million people in the northeast of Syria will wake up not knowing if they will be able to continue to get medical aid that they desperately need,” Ambassador Christophe Heusgen said. 
…