A strong undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Aceh province early today, killing at least 25 people and causing dozens of buildings to collapse.
A frantic rescue effort involving dozens of villagers, soldiers and police was underway in Meureudu, a severely affected town in Pidie Jaya district, which is 11 miles southwest of the epicenter.
Mr. Abbas said 25 people have been killed in that district alone.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the shallow 6.4-magnitude earthquake that struck at 5:03 a.m. There was no risk of a tsunami.
In the nearby district of Bireuen, at least one person died, said health worker Achmad Taufiq.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area noted for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
‘Pizzagate’ false link
The inaccurate election-related conspiracy theory involving Hillary Clinton known as “pizzagate” led a North Carolina man on Dec. 4 to walk into a Washington pizza shop and open fire.
Now, in a tragic twist, an off-shoot of pizzagate has conspiracy theorists speculating that activist Monica Petersen was killed because she was investigating links between the Clinton Foundation and sex trafficking in Haiti.
Ms. Petersen, 32, passed away on Nov. 13 in Haiti. Claude d’Estree, the executive director of the Human Trafficking Center at the University of Denver, had until recently employed Ms. Petersen. He said she committed suicide and the circumstances are not clear, but that she was not investigating the Clinton Foundation.
Ship capsizes off Yemen
A ship carrying almost 60 people off the coast of Yemen is believed to have capsized in high seas, officials said Tuesday.
At least four people had been rescued.
The ship was carrying 12 small boats, and some survivors are believed to have used them.
Certain flights have been suspended amid Yemen’s civil war, forcing many to rely on cargo ships.
Deep-water oil agreement
Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex said it has awarded its first contract with a private firm for a joint operating agreement in deep-water oil drilling.
The Trion field is near Mexico’s maritime boundary with the U.S. in the Gulf of Mexico and is believed to hold the equivalent of 485 million barrels of oil.
Park offers to step down
South Korea’s embattled president, Park Geun-hye, has offered to step down in April, leaders of her party said Tuesday.
But the offer was unlikely to prevent an impeachment vote Friday over a corruption scandal that has turned the vast majority of the public against her.
Also in the world …
For the first time since the world’s newest country gained independence in 2011, hunger is stalking South Sudan’s capital, Juba, because of renewed violence and a deepening economic crisis. … A group of 13 Cuban migrants believed to be the first group to leave since the death of Fidel Castro arrived in Big Pine Key on Tuesday, Florida officials said. … A Bahamian man, Alonzo Knowles, who hacked into the email accounts of celebrities and athletes was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday.
First Published: December 7, 2016, 5:06 a.m.
