Africa
Benghazi police chief assassinated
Colonel Farraj al-Dursi, the police chief of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, has been assassinated overnight, officials have said. Col Dursi was targeted outside his home in a drive-by shooting. He was appointed to his role shortly after the attack on the US consulate in September, in which the US ambassador and three other Americans died. More than a dozen security officers have been assassinated this year in Benghazi, where the uprising against the late Muammar Gaddafi’s rule began. Libya’s newly-elected cabinet came to power last week, and internal security will be one of its major challenges – weapons are readily available and rogue militia groups are widespread.
Cairo anniversary clashes leave dozens injured
At least 61 people have been injured in clashes between protesters and police in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, officials say. Demonstrations began on Monday marking the first anniversary of the “Mohamed Mahmoud” events – street battles in which more than 40 people were killed. They continued late into yesterday evening, with protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs, and police firing back with tear gas and birdshot. One wounded protester had to be put on a life support machine. The Mohamed Mahmoud events began when security forces dispersed a sit-in organised by the families of those killed during the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak earlier last year. The sit-in was part of a push by protesters for the military regime that succeeded Mr Mubarak to hand over power. Unrest lasted for six days, with riot police using fierce tactics.
M23 rebels threaten to march on Kinshasa as UN condemns occupation of Goma
The M23 rebel army in the Democratic Republic of Congo has threatened to march to the capital, Kinshasa, after capturing the eastern city of Goma with little resistance. M23 commander Lt Col Vianney Kazarama told a crowd gathered in Goma that they were ready to “liberate” the country. The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the seizure of Goma and unanimously backed a resolution calling for sanctions against the M23’s leaders. The leaders of DR Congo and neighbouring Rwanda, Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame, are in Kampala for talks with their Ugandan counterpart amid claims that Rwanda is assisting the rebels. Meetings are expected to continue today. The M23 are largely drawn from the Tutsi ethnic minority that was the target of a genocide in the 1990s, and the threat posed by their army has renewed fears that the 1997-2003 war in DR Congo could reignite. Though the genocide was not the only driving factor behind that war and its successive conflicts, it was the deadliest war in modern African history; it directly involved eight African nations and 25 armed groups, and killed some five million people, with millions more displaced from their homes.
Middle East
Amnesty condemns Bahrain’s ‘spiralling repression’
Amnesty International has condemned what it says is the failure of the government of Bahrain to deliver on its promise of reform. The human rights organisation says a “groundbreaking report has been shelved by spiralling repression in Bahrain”. The report investigated human rights abuses when an anti-government uprising was crushed last year in the Gulf island kingdom. Bahrain has been wracked by more than 18 months of civil strife. At least 60 people, including several police officers, have been killed. The opposition puts the death toll at 80, a figure the authorities dispute.
Europe
Greece: lack of bailout deal ‘threatens euro’
The failure of eurozone ministers to agree a deal granting Greece its latest round of bailout payments threatens the whole currency bloc, leaders have said. Following nearly 12 hours of talks in Brussels, the Eurogroup said it needed more time for technical work. France’s finance minister Pierre Moscovici insisted they were a “whisker” away from a deal, but Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said: “it’s not only the future of our country, but the stability of the entire eurozone [at stake]… Greece did what it had to do… whatever technical difficulties in finding a technical solution do not justify any negligence or delay”. The Eurogroup is due to meet again next week. Greece needs the next tranche of its second bailout, worth €130bn ($166bn) to avoid insolvency, and was reduced to issuing short-term bonds on the financial markets last week. Martin Koehring, of the Economist Intelligence Unit, said it wasn’t in the Eurogroup’s interests to push Greece out of the euro over technical disagreements, but a “more likely cause for a Greek disorderly default and euro exit would be domestic political developments in Greece… our assessment remains that there is a 40% probability that Greece leaves the eurozone within the next five years.”
Archbishop: Church of England has ‘lost credibility’ over women bishops
Dr Rowan Williams, the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, has said the Church of England has “lost a measure of credibility” after rejecting the introduction of women bishops last night. His confirmed successor, the Bishop of Durham Justin Welby, said it was a “very grim day” via Twitter. The proposed legislation paving the way for women bishops needed to gain two-third majority support in each of the three houses of the Church’s general synod. It passed in the houses of bishops and clergy, but fell short by six votes in the House of Laity. Over all three houses, 324 synod members voted for women bishops, but 122 votes against were enough to block it due to the Church’s system. Dr Williams said “we have, to put it very bluntly, a lot of explaining to do… the fact remains that a great deal of this discussion is not intelligible to our wider society – worse than that, it seems that we are wilfully blind to some of the trends and priorities in that wider society.”
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