News of the Day From Around the World, Feb. 17
1 Cameroon violence: Children were among 22 people killed in weekend fighting between separatists and the military in northwestern Cameroon, residents said. The government said some of the deaths occurred when a fuel tank exploded in the fighting, causing a fire that burned homes and killed a woman and four children. Civilians have suffered for years in the conflict between separatists and the military in the nation’s English-speaking North West and South West regions. In January, Cameroon deployed at least 1,000 additional troops to the regions ahead of the Feb. 9 elections that separatist fighters had vowed to disrupt. Since then, there have been several attacks on suspected separatist strongholds.
2 Pompeo tour: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his latest Africa stop Monday, praised Angola’s president for his dramatic actions to recover billions of dollars looted by corrupt officials, saying it would help attract investment. President Joao Lourenco since taking office in 2017 has acted even against family members of former leader Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled for nearly four decades. A recent investigation by a global consortium of journalists into dos Santos’ daughter Isabel, reputedly Africa’s richest woman, led to allegations of widespread mismanagement of state funds, which she has denied. Pompeo’s visit to Africa is the first by a Cabinet official in 18 months.
3 Toxic leak: A toxic gas leak killed five people and sickened dozens of others in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, police said Monday. The source of the leak, which occurred Sunday night, and the type of gas were not immediately known. There was no suspicion of sabotage. Authorities said they became aware of the incident when people in the Karachi neighborhood of Kamari, which is...