Yemen

Oft-violated truce formally ends

SANA — The truce in Yemen between Shi’ite rebels and a Saudi-led military coalition has formally ended, according to Saudi Arabia’s state-run news agency. The truce technically came into effect on Dec. 15 as a mutual show of good faith during peace negotiations taking place in Switzerland. But the truce never truly took hold on the ground in Yemen, with both sides ignoring it. The United Nations said on Dec. 20 there were ‘‘numerous violations’’ of the cease-fire agreement from the very start. Yemen’s conflict pits the internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led, US-supported coalition against the rebels, known as Houthis, who are allied with a former president. Local affiliates of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have also exploited Yemen’s chaos to grab land and influence. (AP)

Israel

Police continue hunt for shooter

JERUSALEM — Israeli police continued their manhunt Saturday for a gunman who killed two people and wounded several others when he opened fire at a bar in Tel Aviv the day before. Police say they are investigating possible motives for the shooting, which came amid more than three months of near-daily Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. Relatives of the shooter from the Arab village of Arara in northern Israel told media they recognized the man from CCTV footage aired on news reports. Family members said he was a troubled man who was ‘‘traumatized’’ after a cousin was killed by police in 2006, and who had served time in an Israeli prison after allegedly grabbing an officer’s gun. (AP)

Italy

Mafia blamed for toxic waste issues

ROME — An Italian parliament-mandated health survey has confirmed higher-than-normal incidents of death and cancer among residents in and around Naples, thanks to decades of toxic waste dumping by the local Camorra mob. The report by the National Institute of Health said it was ‘‘critical’’ to address the rates of babies in the provinces of Naples and Caserta who are being hospitalized in the first year of life for ‘‘excessive’’ instances of tumors, especially brain tumors. Residents have long complained about adverse health effects from the dumping, which has poisoned the underground wells that irrigate the farmland that provides vegetables for much of Italy’s center and south. Authorities say the contamination is due to the Camorra’s multibillion-dollar racket in disposing of toxic waste, mainly from industries in Italy’s wealthy north that ask no questions about where the garbage goes as long as it’s taken off their hands — for a fraction of the cost of legal disposal. (AP)