Victims of Indonesian landslide found
SURABAYA, Indonesia -- Indonesian rescuers recovered 10 bodies after a landslide struck vehicles on a hilly road on the country's main island of Java, police said Friday.
Torrential rains pushed mud, rocks and trees down the mountainside road Thursday, burying a van with seven people aboard and a pickup with three traders near Watu Lumpang, a resort area in East Java's Mojokerto district, said local police chief Andi Yudha Pranata.
Pranata said rescuers pulled out the body of the van's driver late Thursday and his six family members, including three children, wife and parents, were retrieved Friday together with the bodies of the three traders.
Footage released by East Java's Search and Rescue Agency showed the road covered by thick mud, rocks and uprooted trees.
Seasonal rains from about October to April frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
Leader's re-election bid draws protest
BANGUI, Central African Republic -- Thousands took to the streets Friday in the Central African Republic to protest President Faustin Archange Touadera's plans to run for a third term with the backing of Russian-led mercenaries from the Wagner group.
The country is one of the first in which the Wagner mercenaries established operations with the pledge of fighting rebel groups and restoring peace. Wagner forces have served as personal bodyguards for Touadera, helping him win a constitutional referendum in July 2023 that could extend his power indefinitely.
"We're here to say no to a third term for Faustin Archange Touadera. But more than that, we want to protect our sovereignty, which Touadera and the Wagner have trampled upon," said Justin Winè, a member of the opposition.
"The Wagner have raped and killed without any justice. This is not normal. To put an end to their reign, Touadera must go," he said.
The Central African Republic has been in conflict since 2013, when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and forced then-President François Bozizé from office. Locals and the government have credited Wagner forces with preventing rebels from taking control of Bangui in 2021.
Myanmar aid urged as recoveries go on
BANGKOK -- Search teams in Myanmar recovered more bodies from the ruins of buildings Friday, a week after a massive earthquake killed more than 3,300 people, as the focus turns toward the urgent humanitarian needs in a country already devastated by a continuing civil war.
Ahead of the visit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community to immediately step up funding for quake victims "to match the scale of this crisis," and he urged unimpeded access to reach those in need.
Myanmar's military and several key armed resistance groups have all declared ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.
But the U.N.'s Human Rights Office Friday accused the military of continuing attacks, claiming there were more than 60 attacks after the earthquake, including 16 since the military announced a temporary ceasefire Wednesday.
Many international search and rescue teams are now on the scene, and eight medical crews from China, Thailand, Japan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Russia were operating in Naypyitaw, according to Myanmar's military-run government. Another five teams from India, Russia, Laos and Nepal and Singapore were helping in the Mandalay region, while teams from Russia, Malaysia and the ASEAN bloc of nations were assisting in the Sagaing region.
The World Food Program said so far it has reached 24,000 survivors, but was scaling up its efforts to assist 850,000 with food and cash assistance for one month.
The Trump administration has pledged $2 million in emergency aid and sent a three-person team to assess how best to respond given drastic cuts to U.S. foreign assistance.
Ex-Panamanian president refuses exit
PANAMA CITY -- Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, a convicted felon granted asylum by Nicaragua, remained inside that country's embassy Friday more than a year after he first entered and a week after Panama said that it would allow him to leave.
The former leader declared Panama's original offer a "trap" after the government declined to extend the deadline for him to safely leave for Nicaragua late Thursday.
"It was a vile trap, what they wanted to do to me," Martinelli said in a video posted to Instagram early Friday.
Minutes before the midnight deadline, Panama's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that it wouldn't extend the window for Martinelli to leave.
Martinelli has been inside the Nicaraguan Embassy since Panama moved to arrest him after his appeals ran out on his money-laundering conviction. The 73-year-old former leader maintains that his prosecution has been politically motivated as he sought to run for a second term of office.
