Aden / AFP Around 40 people were missing off the Yemeni island of Socotra on Wednesday after a cargo vessel carrying islanders home from the mainland sank in the Indian Ocean, authorities said. Nineteen people were rescued from the water after a major search operation was launched in the early hours, Yemeni Fisheries Minister Fahd Kavieen said. The first two …

  Bartalla/ AFP Iraqi forces battled extremists deep inside Mosul on Wednesday, edging closer to the River Tigris that divides the city and looking for a breakthrough in the seven-week-old offensive. The fighting to retake the IS group’s last major stronghold in Iraq has prompted a steady trickle of people to leave their homes, many taking refuge in camps where …

  Mogadishu / AFP The government of Somalia’s northern Puntland region said on Wednesday it had retaken control of a small port town from extremists who have declared allegiance to the IS group. “Puntland forces have secured control of Qandala and the armed militants have fled, now the situation is quite calm and everything is under control,” said Yusuf Mohamed Waceys, …

  New Delhi/ AFP Torrential rain and rough seas have stranded around 1,000 tourists on one of India’s tropical islands off its east coast, officials said Wednesday. Officials from the local Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration said they have asked the Indian navy to help rescue tourists from Havelock, one of the smaller islands most popular with visitors. “Around 1,000 tourists …

  Jerusalem / AFP Israeli lawmakers could vote on Wednesday to advance a bill legalising some 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank despite international criticism and warnings over its implications. The bill was set for a first reading in the Knesset, or parliament, and if approved would require two more full votes before becoming law. A vote was expected …

  These are tough times for Theresa May on the road to Brexit. The prime minister is facing a rebellion from lawmakers in her own Conservative Party over her secrecy about strategy, while her lawyers had a difficult first day as the Supreme Court began considering if she or Parliament has the right to start the exit talks. A Labour …

  It sounds like something out of a dystopian novel: The fresh fish in many of Beijing’s biggest supermarkets simply disappeared last week, as if summoned to another realm. Social media buzzed with alarm and paranoia. The Beijing News placed a photo of an empty aquarium and an underemployed fishmonger on its front page. The truth turned out to be …

  Have you watched that new video of Amazon Go, the store in test mode in Seattle where you just pick up stuff (prepared food and drinks, mostly) and walk out? I have, again and again. It’s pretty hypnotic, especially with the sound off. The gist of it, in case you don’t feel like watching right now, is that you …

  Lampung / AFP It was the middle of the night when the villagers sounded the alarm: a huge Sumatran elephant was raiding their rice fields, and they needed urgent help to drive it back to the forest. Dodot — a veteran Indonesian elephant keeper trained to handle such emergencies — rushed to the scene, fearing villagers would take matters …

  Minaya / AFP On the arid, wind-swept plateau of central Spain, saffron producers are reaping the benefits of a return to favour of the precious spice introduced by Arabs in the Middle Ages. After a lull in production due to the high cost of growing saffron in Spain, farmers are now back in business as customers have started seeking …