Africa
Villagers in fear as 31 police killed
Villagers in Samburu County in northern Kenya fear further violence after at least 31 police officers were killed over the weekend. The police were ambushed as they attempted to recover stolen cattle. Nine are still in hospital. A local religious leader has said “the situation is very, very tense with heavily armed security personnel patrolling villages”. Following vows by the government to bring those responsible to justice, he said “we fear the anger of these security people could fall on innocent civilians, as those who may have killed the policemen are nowhere now”.
West Africa bloc Ecowas to deploy troops to Mali
West African regional leaders have agreed to deploy 3,300 soldiers to Mali to retake the north from Islamist extremists. At a summit of Ecowas, the group’s chairman said it was ready to use force to “dismantle terrorist and transnational criminal networks”. The soldiers will be provided mainly by Nigeria, Niger and Burkina Faso. Islamist groups and Tuareg rebels seized control of the north in the chaos following the overthrow of Mali’s president in March. Ivory Coast President Alassane Outtara told reporters in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, that the soldiers could be deployed as soon as the UN approved the military plan. He said he hoped this would be done by late November or early December.
Middle East
Syrian cleric Moaz al-Khatib named leader of opposition coalition
A leading Damascus cleric has been chosen at a meeting in Qatar to head a new coalition to oppose President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Cleric Moaz al-Khatib, former Sunni Muslim imam of the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, is seen as a moderate, and has been detained several times by Syrian military intelligence before fleeing Syria in July this year for Cairo. Western leaders have welcomed the creation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which was unveiled in Doha yesterday. US state department spokesperson Mark Toner said “we look forward to supporting the National Coalition as it charts a course toward the end of Assad’s bloody rule and the start of the peaceful, just, democratic future that all the people of Syria deserve”, while British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the move was an “important milestone in forming a broad and representative opposition that reflects the full diversity of the Syrian people.”
Europe
New BBC director general amid major resignations
Tim Davie will be the acting director general of the BBC following the resignation of George Entwistle late on Saturday. News director Helen Boaden and her deputy Steve Mitchell are other senior resignations from the British Broadcasting Corporation, which has been rocked by accusations of journalistic malpractice and incompetence in recent weeks over its coverage of sex abuse stories. Mr Entwistle resigned following a report by the BBC show Newsnight which effectively, and falsely, accused former Conservative politician Lord McAlpine of child abuse in the 1980s. Ms Boaden and Mr Mitchell were asked to step aside due to their seniority at the time that Newsnight shelved a separate investigation into abuse claims against former BBC presenter Jimmy Savile. The decision to shelve the programme has led to accusations that the BBC tried to cover up the systemic sexual abuse of children by one of its more valuable personalities. Ms Boaden and Mr Mitchell are to be replaced with Fran Unsworth and Ceri Thomas of Radio 4’s Today programme. Mr Davie, as acting director general, has vowed to “get a grip” at the corporation. Mr Entwistle, meanwhile, leaves the post after only eight weeks, with a year’s salary of £450,000 as payoff. Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, says the sum was what the BBC would have had to pay had they fired Mr Entwistle, and that the trust was considering doing so if he had not volunteered his resignation.
Eurozone ministers to discuss new funds for Greece as debt approaches double GDP
Eurozone finance ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss whether to release new funds to indebted Greece. The Greek government will hope it has done enough to secure the next instalment of its bailout money by passing a 2013 budget on Sunday night. The budget will make drastic cuts to pensions and wages, and has incited angry public demonstrations. Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker, however, says there will be “no definitive decision” by the end of today’s talks. This is due to the funding first needing approval by other European parliaments, including Germany’s. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has warned that without the new loan, Athens will run out of money within days. Greece will make a last-ditch bid to raise funds from the financial markets tomorrow if it does not get the next tranche of bailout money. The Greek economy is expected to shrink by 4.5% next year, and public debt is likely to rise to 189% of GDP.
Australasia
Bushfire destroys homes in South Australia
More than 100 firefighters are working to contain a bushfire in Australia that has burned 2,000 hectares of land and destroyed at least seven homes. The first broke out in Tulka, near Port Lincoln in South Australia, on Sunday. Its cause is unclear, but dry weather conditions have helped it to spread quickly. The Country Fire Service says it is now burning within containment lines and does not currently pose a threat to life and property, but is not yet under control and could threaten the Tulka township if prevailing wind conditions changed. Australia’s climate means several areas can be threatened by wildfires – some 173 people were killed when fires tore across Victoria state in February 2009.
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