News of the day from across the globe, Dec. 31
Chinese authorities blamed freak weather for the capsizing of a cruise ship that killed hundreds earlier this year, but also recommended that the captain be further investigated and representatives of the shipping company and local authorities be punished for management flaws, state media announced Wednesday.
Xinhua News Agency said the Cabinet’s investigation team concluded that the Eastern Star was brought down “by strong winds and heavy rains.”
Cabinet officials from China and Taiwan have spoken for the first time using a newly inaugurated hotline, the latest effort to build trust between the longtime rivals.
The link that went into service Wednesday represents an upgrade in contact between the sides by connecting the heads of the two Cabinet-level agencies responsible for their relations, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
Philippine troops clashed Wednesday with about 100 Abu Sayyaf gunmen suspected of plotting attacks on New Year’s Eve, leaving eight militants and one soldier dead, officials said.
A police report said the militants were planning to carry out bombings in downtown Jolo town in predominantly Muslim Sulu and attack police and a military detachment.
Abu Sayyaf previously aligned itself with al Qaeda but at least two of its factional commanders have expressed support for the Islamic State since last year.
The United States and the Philippines have both listed the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for deadly bomb attacks, ransom kidnappings and beheadings.
Two people working at one of Egypt’s most popular art houses say officials raided their venue, taking computers and other items before closing it.
Monday night’s raid on Townhouse Gallery and a raid the next day on a publishing house were the latest in a crackdown on Egypt’s art scene — which is often frequented by opposition activists — ahead of the Jan. 25 anniversary of the 2011 uprising against ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Philippine Roman Catholic Church officials have reprimanded a priest for riding a hoverboard and singing a song during Christmas Eve Mass.
The Diocese of San Pablo, south of Manila, said the Rev. Albert San Jose apologized for his action, which was caught on video and widely shared on YouTube.
The video shows the priest in a white cassock gliding up and down the church’s aisles on the two-wheeled electric scooter while singing a Christmas song.