ATTAPEU, Laos — Rescuers searched Wednesday for scores of villagers left missing when part of a newly built hydroelectric dam broke in southeastern Laos, flooding the surrounding countryside and killing at least 24 people, officials said.

Thousands of people lost their homes when the South Korean-built dam gave way on Monday, flooding surrounding villages. Hundreds took shelter in nearby towns, traveling by bus and pickup trucks and sleeping on plastic sheeting.

Bounyong Phommachak, a Red Cross official, said 24 bodies had been recovered and 96 people were officially listed as missing. He said by phone that about 6,600 people had been displaced from their homes.

Colombian senator resigns

MEDELLÍN, Colombia — Alvaro Uribe, a powerful former president of Colombia, said Tuesday that he was resigning from his Senate seat after the Supreme Court disclosed that it was widening a criminal investigation of him to include accusations of bribery.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Mr. Uribe said that the investigation had left him “morally impeded to be a senator” and that he was leaving Congress to prepare his defense.

In Colombia, the resignation was an abrupt setback for a resilient politician who has dominated the country for two decades. Mr. Uribe served as president from 2002 to 2010, waged a pitched battle against his successor and founded his own party.

U.S. allies stress NAFTA

MEXICO CITY — Mexican and Canadian officials are stressing that talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement will remain a three-way negotiation, despite suggestions by President Donald Trump that he might pursue separate trade deals with both countries.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray says “Canada and Mexico not only share geography, history and friendship, but also principles and common goals, and we are a team and act as a team.” Visiting Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland also stressed that NAFTA is a three-country agreement. 

Militant’s wife in custody

HAMMOND, Ind. — An Indiana woman who says she was held in a Kurdish detention camp with her four children after her husband died fighting for the Islamic State group remains in custody after being charged with lying to the FBI.

U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Ryan Holmes says 32-year-old Samantha Elhassani appeared in court for an initial hearing Wednesday and was appointed a public defender.

Ms. Elhassani told PBS’ “Frontline” and the BBC in April that during a 2015 vacation in Turkey, her Moroccan husband tricked her into traveling with their children to Syria, where he became an Islamic State militant and died fighting. She and the children ended up in a Kurdish detention camp and were transferred to U.S. custody.

Oldest man turns 113

The year Masazo Nonaka was born, Albert Einstein published his paper on the theory of relativity, Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 26th president of the United States, and Bertha von Suttner became the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. It was 1905.

Now, 113 years later, Mr. Nonaka is now the oldest man alive, according to Guinness World Records.  On Wednesday, he celebrated his  birthday.

 Mr. Nonaka grew up in Ashoro, a small town in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands.  He attributes his longevity to soaking in the mineral-rich springs, as well as his love of sweets.

First Published: July 26, 2018, 4:00 a.m.