Africa
Mali Islamists claim Menaka victory over rebels
Militant Islamists in northern Mali say they have driven Tuareg-led rebels out of the desert town of Menaka. The rebels have denied the claim, insisting that fighting in the area was ongoing. Regional leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) agreed last week to deploy 3,000 troops to reclaim northern Mali, while EU foreign ministers decided yesterday to send 250 military trainers to help build the country’s armed forces. The EU is increasingly concerned that Mali could develop into a launch pad for Islamist militant attacks in the region. Brussels has, however, ruled out deploying the trainers in a combat role. The UN Security Council is due to discuss the Ecowas plan in the next few weeks.
DR Congo M23 rebels enter Goma city
Rebel fighters have entered central Goma, the main city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The M23 rebels say they have captured the city wholly, but this has not been confirmed. President Joseph Kabila, who has flown to Uganda for talks, called on people to “resist” amid fears that the DR Congo war could resume. Aid agencies say tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in the last five days as the conflict escalated. The M23 rebels are named for the 23 March 2009 peace accord, which they accuse the government of violating. They are also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, are believed to number between 1,200 and 6,000, and were indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2006 for allegedly recruiting child soldiers. The current conflict has its roots in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group, which comprises most of the M23.
Asia
Pakistan drops blasphemy case against disabled teenager
A court in Pakistan has dropped a controversial blasphemy case against a 14-year old, mentally handicapped Christian girl accused by her neighbour of burning pages from the Koran. The girl, who doctors say has a mental age younger than her 14 years, was arrested and held in a maximum security jail in August following accusations by a Muslim cleric and calls for punishment by a furious crowd. The cleric is now facing allegations that he planted evidence. There are fears that though the case has been dropped, the girl and her family will not be safe in Pakistan. Her family are already in hiding after receiving death threats.
Middle East
Egypt: Israel to end Gaza attacks
Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi says he expects Israeli airstrikes on Gaza to end later today. Egypt has been trying to broker a truce in the conflict. The president’s statement came after Israel put plans for a ground operation on hold to give ceasefire talks in Cairo a chance. The conflict was sparked last Wednesday when Israel killed a Hamas military leader, saying it wanted to end the frequent rocket attacks made by Hamas against Israel. More than 110 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed since. Today has seen reduced violence, though Israel has conducted some strikes, with its military describing one as a “direct hit” on two militants in northern Gaza. President Mursi said Israel’s “aggression” against Gaza would end today, and Egypt’s mediation efforts would produce more permanent “positive results” shortly. The content of the Egyptian plan is not known, but both Israel and Hamas have presented conditions. Israel is demanding no hostile fire of any kind from Gaza and international efforts to prevent Hamas from rearming, while Hamas is demanding an end to the blockade on Gaza and “Israel’s assassinations”.
Man held over attack on US embassy in Tel Aviv
A man has been arrested after a security guard was wounded in a knife and axe attack at the US embassy in Israel’s commercial capital of Tel Aviv. The attack took place at the entrance to the embassy, with guards firing warning shots in return. A spokesman for the Israeli police said the attack was probably not politically motivated. A witness stated that an Israeli man in his early 40s was engaged in an altercation with “six or seven” security guards before being wrestled to the ground – uninjured, according to police.
UK recognises Syrian opposition coalition
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has confirmed that the United Kingdom will recognise the recently-formed National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. He said the group of opposition organisations was the “sole legitimate representative” of the Syrian people, and a “credible” alternative to the Assad government. In the absence of a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict, Mr Hague told the House of Commons that the UK would not rule out any action – subject to international law – to save lives. France, Turkey and six Gulf states have already recognised the opposition coalition, but the US has stopped short of doing so, while the European Union has recognised the group as “legitimate representatives” of the Syrian people, but not the sole ones.
Europe
Coulson and Brooks face charges of conspiracy to corrupt public officials
Ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson, and ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, are to be charged in connection with payments to police and public officials. Journalists Clive Goodman and John Kay, and Ministry of Defence employee Bettina Jordan-Barber, will also face charges, says the Crown Prosecution Service. Mr Coulson, who edited the Sunday tabloid the News of the World before moving to Downing Street, denies the allegations. The charges have arisen from evidence uncovered by Operation Elveden, which is the Metropolitan Police’s investigation into corrupt payments. It runs alongside Operations Weeting and Tuleta, which are examining phone hacking and broader privacy breaches respectively. Mr Coulson and Ms Brooks are central figures in the investigations, which were initiated after the allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World. After running for 168 years, the paper closed as the scandal unfolded last year.
UBS trader guilty of fraud over £1.4bn loss
A City trader who lost £1.4bn ($2.2bn) of Swiss bank UBS’s money has been found guilty of two counts of fraud. Kweku Adoboli, 32, denied four charges of false accounting and two of fraud between October 2008 and September 2011. The prosecution said he was “a gamble or two away from destroying Switzerland’s largest bank”. Mr Adoboli said he was encouraged to take risks by his bosses. He was cleared of four additional charges of false accounting. It is the biggest fraud case in British legal history.
Latin America
Farc declares two-month truce to allow talks to proceed
Colombia’s Farc rebel group has declared a unilateral two-month ceasefire as they start peace talks with government negotiators. The announcement was made by the Farc delegates in Cuba’s capital, Havana, the venue for the second round of landmark talks. The first face-to-face meeting is intended to end five decades of conflict in which some 600,000 people have died. The Colombian government’s senior negotiator said the army would continue fighting the Farc until it signed a peace deal, and stressed that the rebels must agree to give up their weapons.
UN ruling gives Colombia islets but Nicaragua more sea
The International Court of Justice has settled a long-standing territorial dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia, ruling that a group of disputed islets in the Caribbean are Colombia’s. However the court also redrew the maritime border, extending Nicaragua’s territorial waters. The decision potentially gives Nicaragua more access to fishing grounds, as well as reported underwater oil and gas deposits, which brought a rebuke from Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who said: “Colombia strenuously rejects this aspect of the ruling”. The border dispute has seen occasional flaring of tensions since the early 19th century, when the nations of Latin America were gaining their independence from Spain. The two countries signed a treaty settling the issue in 1928, which was annulled by Nicaragua’s Sandinista government in 1980, who argued it had been signed under US pressure. The case was then brought before the ICJ in December 2001.
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