The Boston Globe - 19.09.2019

A4 The Boston Globe THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

The World

Flames swept a boarding

school early Wednesday in the

West African country of Libe-

ria, killing at least 28 children

and trapping others in the rub-

ble.

The students were sleeping

in a dormitory attached to a

mosque when an electrical is-

sue is thought to have sparked

the fire, according to a police

spokesman.

The blaze remains under in-

vestigation.

Officers were still searching

for the missing by midday in

Paynesville City, a suburb of the

Liberian capital, Monrovia, as

Red Cross ambulances rushed

to treat the injured.

The victims are believed to

be boys between 10 and 20.

Gaylor Mulbah, who lives

next door to the school, said he

woke Wednesday morning to

the noise of chaos.

‘‘I came outside thinking

there were armed robbers,’’ he

said, ‘‘but everything was blaz-

ing. People were running,

screaming, calling for help.’’

Mulbah, a teacher at anoth-

er school, said that he tried to

get to the boys but that the heat

was too intense to go near the

building.

Steel security bars blocked

the windows.

It is unclear exactly how

many students lived in the dor-

mitory, but authorities said

few were able to escape the in-

ferno.

WASHINGTON POST

Atleast28childrenkilledinelectricalfireatboardingschoolinLiberia

KABUL — Militants in

Afghanistan attempted to

storm a government office in

an eastern provincial capital

Wednesday, with a suicide

bombing sparking a running

gun battle with security forces,

Afghan officials said.

The attack in Jalalabad, the

capital of Nangarhar province,

came a day after the Taliban

launched two separate suicide

attacks — one targeting Presi-

dent Ashraf Ghani’s election

rally in a northern province

and another in the heart of the

Afghan capital. Those attacks

killed at least 48 people, in the

deadliest single day since a

peace agreement with Taliban

insurgents was declared dead.

Fighting was still ongoing

as of Wednesday evening, said

Attahullah Khogyani, spokes-

man for Nangarhar’s governor.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Afghangovernmentofficetargeted

HONG KONG — An annual

fireworks display in Hong

Kong marking China’s Nation-

al Day on Oct. 1 was called off

Wednesday as prodemocracy

protests show no sign of end-

ing.

The city issued a terse state-

ment saying the show over its

famed Victoria Harbor had

been canceled ‘‘in view of the

latest situation and having re-

gard to public safety.’’

Major protests are expected

on Oct. 1, which will be the

70th anniversary of the found-

ing of the Communist Party-

governed People’s Republic of

China.

Dozens of supporters of

China waved Chinese flags and

sang the national anthem in a

mall on Wednesday, while

antigovernment protesters

booed them.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Withunrest,HongKongfireworksoff

Daily Briefing

PARIS — Paris is testing out

a new form of travel: an eco-

friendly bubble-shaped taxi

that zips along the water up

and down the Seine.

Organizers are holding test

runs this week on one white,

oval-shaped, electric hydrofoil

boat that resembles a tiny

space shuttle gliding past Paris

monuments.

The boats can fit four pas-

sengers, and if they get ap-

proved, can be ordered on an

app. Their designers hope to

run the so-called Seabubbles

commercially in Paris and oth-

er cities starting next year.

Anders Bringdal, SeaBub-

bles CEO, said ‘‘the most im-

portant for us is no noise, no

waves, no pollution.’’

Proponents see the vehicle

as a new model for urban mo-

bility.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TinybubblepopsupontheSeine

By Josef Federman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — After a
decade of mesmerizing world
leaders, subduing his rivals,
and eking out dramatic elec-
tion victories, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s political
future is suddenly in doubt.
With near-final results from
Israel’s election on Tuesday, he
has been left well short of the
parliamentary majority he had
sought — not only to continue
in power but also to fend off a
looming corruption indict-
ment.
With over 90 percent of the
votes counted late Wednesday,
challenger Benny Gantz’s cen-
trist Blue and White party cap-
tured 33 seats in the 120-seat
parliament, to 32 seats for Ne-
tanyahu’s conservative Likud.
That leaves neither party
poised to control a majority co-
alition with their smaller allies,
leaving maverick politician Av-
igdor Lieberman, head of the
Yisrael Beitenu party, as the key
power broker. Lieberman has

called for a broad unity govern-

ment with the two major par-

ties.

‘‘Judging by the present situ-

ation assessment, Netanyahu is

no longer capable of winning

anelectioninIsrael.Thisstory

is over,’’ said Yossi Verter, politi-

cal commentator for the

Haaretz daily.

Such forecasts might be

seen by some as premature. But

it appears that Netanyahu’s po-

litical instincts, once deemed

impeccable, led to some ques-

tionable decisions that came

back to hurt him in the latest

campaign.

Netanyahu, who turns 70

next month, has traditionally

relied on a stable majority of ul-

tra-Orthodox Jewish religious

and hard-line nationalist par-

ties. That alliance fell apart fol-

lowing elections in April when

Lieberman, a longtime ally

turned rival, refused to join a

new coalition with religious

partners.

Lieberman, a hawk like Ne-

tanyahu on security issues but

also fiercely secular, said ultra-

Orthodox parties had gained

too much influence. Just short

of a parliamentary majority,

Netanyahu was forced to take

the unprecedented step of hold-

ing a second election in a year.

Looming over the campaign

were Netanyahu’s legal woes.

Israel’s attorney general has

recommended indicting him

on bribery, fraud, and breach of

trust charges in a series of cor-

ruption scandals, pending a

hearing scheduled in early Oc-

tober.

Netanyahu had hoped to

capture a narrow coalition of

hard-line parties that would

grant him immunity from pros-

ecution.

He embarked on a cam-

paign of stunts and promises

aimed at shoring up his base.

Borrowing tactics from the po-

litical playbook of his friend,

President Trump, he lashed out

at the media, police, judiciary,

and election commission, alleg-

ing a vast conspiracy against

him. He vowed to annex Jewish

settlements in the West Bank

and threatened to unleash a

war on Gaza militants.

He saved special vitriol for

Israel’s Arab minority, implying

that they were a hostile fifth

column out to destroy the na-

tion. He tried, and failed, to

pass legislation that would in-

stall monitoring cameras in

voting booths as he made un-

founded claims of fraud in Arab

districts. An automated post on

his Facebook page claimed Ar-

abs ‘‘want to annihilate us all.’’

Arab leaders accused Netan-

yahu of racism and trying to in-

timidate voters to stay home on

election day.

The strategy appeared to

backfire on many counts. The

latest election returns showed a

drop of support for Netanya-

hu’s Likud party compared to

April’s vote. The results indicat-

ed that former Likud voters

had migrated to other Jewish

parties, including to Lieber-

man’s Yisrael Beitenu, which

nearly doubled its representa-

tion.

‘‘He took the polarization

one step too far, and I think he’s

going to pay the price for it,’’

saidAronShaviv,acampaign

strategist who managed Netan-

yahu’s reelection campaign in

2015.

Netanyahu’s attacks on Ar-

abs were credited with driving

a surge in turnout in Arab

towns. The Joint List, an alli-

ance of Arab factions, gained at

least two seats and is now

poised to be a major player in

the next parliament, according

to the near-final results.

‘‘Incitement has a price,’’

said Ayman Odeh, leader of the

list.

Yohanan Plesner, president

of the Israel Democracy Insti-

tute, a Jerusalem think tank,

said the attacks on the coun-

try’s democratic institutions

were too much for many Israe-

lis.

‘‘It created a sense of urgen-

cy that these professional insti-

tutions of state are being un-

dermined,’’ he said.

Public fatigue with his lead-

ership may have added to his

woes.

At a news conference

Wednesday, Netanyahu contin-

ued his attacks on Arab politi-

cians and vowed to lead the

country.

Vote leaves Netanyahu’s political future cloudy

Near-finalresults

havehimshort

ofthemajority

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a Likud meeting in Jerusalem Wednesday

while Benny Gantz, with his wife, appeared at the Blue and White party headquarters.

By Richard Pérez-Peña
and Edward Wong
NEW YORK TIMES
Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo accused Iran on
Wednesday of having carried
out an “act of war” with aerial
strikes on oil facilities in Saudi
Arabia last weekend, and he
said the United States was
working to build a coalition to
deter further attacks.
Pompeo’s words were the
strongest so far from any US
official regarding the attack
Saturday in Saudi Arabia,
which severely impaired pro-
duction at the leading oil ex-
porter and raised fears that
tensions between Iran and the
United States could escalate
into a new war.
Despite Pompeo’s state-
ment, President Trump
pushed back against another
US military entanglement in
the Middle East, speaking on-
ly of unspecified new sanc-
tions on Iran.
Asked about a possible US
attack on Iran, Trump told re-
porters in Los Angeles: “There
are many options. There’s the
ultimate option and there are
options a lot less than that.”
In Saudi Arabia, military
officials displayed what they
described as physical evidence
that Iran had been responsible
for the attack, but did not
specify how they intended to
respond or what they expected
from their US allies.
The Houthi rebels in Ye-
men, who have been fighting a
Saudi-led coalition for more
than four years, have said they
were responsible for the at-
tack. Iran, a strong ally of the
Houthis, has denied any re-
sponsibility. US and Saudi offi-
cials have said the Houthis
had neither the sophistication
nor the weapons to have car-
ried it out.
“This was an Iranian at-
tack,” Pompeo said. “We were
blessed there were no Ameri-
cans killed in this attack, but
anytime you have an act of
war of this nature, there’s al-
ways a risk that could hap-
pen.”
Pompeo spoke to reporters
at the end of a flight to Jiddah,
Saudi Arabia, where he met
with Crown Prince Moham-
med bin Salman, the de facto
leader of the country, to dis-
cuss the intelligence on the at-

tack and actions. Pompeo also

planned to visit the United Ar-

ab Emirates on this emergen-

cy trip before returning to

Washington.

“That’s my mission here, is

to work with our partners in

theregion,”hesaid.“Wewill

be working with our Europe-

an partners as well.”

“We’re working to build out

a coalition to develop a plan to

deter them,” Pompeo added.

He dismissed the claim by

the Houthis that they had at-

tacked the oil facilities. “The

intelligence community has

high confidence that these

were not weapons that would

have been in the possession of

the Houthis,” Pompeo said.

“As for how we know, the

equipment used is unknown

to be in the Houthis’ arsenal.”

Earlier at a news confer-

ence in Riyadh, the Saudi cap-

ital, the Saudi Defense Minis-

try showed what it described

as debris from the attack site

and videos that appeared to be

from surveillance cameras on

the ground.

“This attack was launched

from the north and was un-

questionably sponsored by

Iran,” said Colonel Turki al-

Maliki, a spokesman for the

ministry. He said Saudi offi-

cials were still trying to deter-

mine exactly where the strikes

originated.

The attack Saturday, which

Saudi officials said involved

some two dozen drones and

cruise missiles, temporarily

cut Saudi oil processing in

half, shaking global markets

and worsening tensions be-

tween the US and Iran.

On Wednesday morning,

President Trump wrote on

Twitter that he had told Trea-

sury Secretary Steven

Mnuchin “to substantially in-

crease Sanctions on the coun-

try of Iran.”

Trump later said details

would be released within 48

hours.

Pompeocalls

attacksonSaudi

Arabia‘actofwar’

Trump,though,

speaksonlyof

Iransanctions

‘Therearemany

options.There’s

theultimate

optionandthere

areoptionsalot

lessthanthat.’

PRESIDENT TRUMP,

asked about a possible US

attack on Iran

CARIELLE DOE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

People paid their respects in front of the bodies on Wednesday in Paynesville City, on the outskirts of Liberia’s capital.

FRANCOIS MORI/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Seabubble is electric and can seat four passengers.