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page 25 S/AFRICA SA parliament to debate Zuma impeachment motion Tuesday South Africa’s parliament will debate on Tuesday a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete said on Sunday, after a top court ruled the president had violated the constitution. South Africa’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday that Zuma had failed […]

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S/AFRICA

SA parliament to debate Zuma impeachment motion Tuesday

South Africa’s parliament will debate on Tuesday a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete said on Sunday, after a top court ruled the president had violated the constitution.

South Africa’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday that Zuma had failed to uphold the constitution by ignoring orders from the public protector that he repay some of the $16 million in state funds spent to renovate his residence at Nkandla.

Since Thursday’s ruling, opposition party leaders, ordinary South Africans and even an anti-apartheid activist jailed alongside Nelson Mandela have called on Zuma to step down.

Mmusi Maimane, leader of the opposition party Democratic Alliance, tabled the motion to have Zuma impeached, and Mbete told reporters “the debate on that motion has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.”

On Friday, 73-year-old Zuma apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution.

AZERBAIJAN

Nagorno-Karabakh fighting: Azerbaijan ‘calls truce’

Azerbaijan has announced a “unilateral ceasefire” in fighting with Armenian forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

A defence ministry spokesman said the Azeris were acting in response to international calls to halt violence.

But the Armenia-backed Karabakh forces said this was false and Azerbaijan was continuing to fire shells.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been in the hands of ethnic-Armenian separatists since a war that ended in 1994.

Fighting had continued into Sunday, after clashes left 30 soldiers dead and caused civilian casualties.

“Azerbaijan, showing good will, has decided to unilaterally cease hostilities,” the Azeri defence ministry said in a statement.

It warned it would strike back if its forces came under attack.

But David Babayan, a Karabakh military spokesman, said fighting had not stopped.

BELGIUM

Flights resume at Brussels airport after attack

Brussels airport has reopened for three “symbolic” flights amid tight security controls, 12 days after an attack by suicide bombers killed 16 people there.

Three Brussels Airlines flights were scheduled to depart for European destinations, with the first leaving at 11:40 GMT for Faro in Portugal.

Passengers were screened on an approach road and again before check in.

Attacks on the airport and a Brussels metro station by so-called Islamic State on 22 March left 32 people dead.

Airport workers gathered at Zaventem to watch the first flight take off.

The other two flights on Sunday are to Turin in northern Italy and Athens.

Brussels Airlines has estimated the closure of its hub has been costing it €5m ($5.7m) a day.

The stringent new security checks were put in place after police threatened to go on strike if measures were not improved.

CAMEROON

Cameroon opposition protests Biya’s hold on power

The opposition in Cameroon has defied police and continued protests against efforts by the ruling party to organize early elections, with several protesters having been wounded or arrested since last Tuesday.

The opposition, which encouraged protesters to dress in black on Sunday, said Cameroon President Paul Biya, 84, is angling to be “president for life” after 34 years already in office.

Kah Wallah, opposition leader of the Cameroon People’s Party (CPP), said they are dressed in black as a symbol of sadness over Biya’s long stay in power and persistent brutality against voices opposing his attempt to be “president for life.”

Wallah, who is a member of a coalition of four opposition political parties, said demonstrators will continue to protest until Biya says “no” to calls by his ruling party for him to change the constitution and organize early elections.

Cameroon government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma Bakary said the protests are illegal and will not be allowed to take place.

CAR

CAR president names new PM

Faustin-Archange Touadera, the Central African Republic’s new President, has named his former campaign director Simplice Sarandji as the country’s prime minister.

“The president of the republic, head of state, in light of the constitution of the Central African Republic of March 30, 2016 … decrees Mr Simplice Sarandji to be named prime minister, head of the government,” a presidential decree released on Saturday said.

It was not immediately clear when Sarandji would name his cabinet but an announcement was expected in the coming days.

Touadera, a former prime minister and mathematics teacher, was elected president in February, replacing a transitional government that had held power since early 2014.

Touadera has pledged to bring peace and development to the former French colony. The country was hit by religious and inter-commununal conflict in 2013, when a mostly Muslim rebel group, Seleka, toppled longtime ruler Francois Bozize.

SYRIA

Syrian forces seize Islamic State-held town near Palmyra

Syrian and allied forces, backed by Russian air strikes, drove Islamic State militants out of the town of al-Qaryatain on Sunday after gradually encircling it over the past few days, state media said.

Surrounded by hills, al-Qaryatain is 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State last Sunday.

Al-Qaryatain had been held by the militant group since late August. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been trying to retake al-Qaryatain and other pockets of Islamic State control to reduce the jihadist group’s ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located.

Syrian state television said the army and its allies “fully restored security and stability to al-Qaryatain after killing the last remaining groups of Daesh terrorists” in the town, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

TURKEY

Erdogan: Obama spoke ‘behind my back’ on press freedom

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused U.S. President Barack Obama of criticizing him behind his back over press freedom issues during a visit last week to Washington.

Erdogan’s administration has been widely criticized for violating human rights, imprisoning journalists and taking over several media organizations in the country.

After the pair met for closed-door talks on the sidelines of the White House’s nuclear security summit, Obama said Friday the “approach they have been taking toward the press is one that could lead Turkey down a path that would be very troubling.”

The U.S. leader said he raised those concerns with Erdogan, who in turn on Sunday denied they discussed the issue, saying Obama made the comments “behind my back.”

Erdogan added that Turkish media outlets called him “thief” and “killer” without being shut down.

VANUATU

6.9 quake strikes off Vanuatu

A strong earthquake has struck off the coast of the South Pacific Ocean island nation of Vanuatu, but there are no reports of a tsunami or serious damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 6.9 magnitude quake struck Sunday 80 kilometers north of Port-Olry, Vanuatu at a depth of 35 kilometers.

The USGS revised the magnitude down from an earlier report of 7.2.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there is a possibility of tsunamis, but no warning has yet been issued.

Vanuatu sits on what is known as the Ring of Fire consisting of an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where quakes are common.

AUSTRALIA

MH370 search: New debris found in Mauritius to be examined

Australia says a piece of debris found on a Mauritian island will be examined to see if it is part of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A hotel owner on the island who saw the debris said it bore a design and looked like it was from the inside of a plane.

If confirmed, it would be the first piece of interior debris from the plane yet to be found.

MH370 disappeared in March 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 239 passengers.

Despite an extensive deep water search, led by Australia, the plane and all its passengers remain missing.

Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said the debris, found last week, was an “item of interest”.

UNITED STATES

One dead as plane hits car on US highway

A plane has crash-landed on the Interstate 15 freeway in southern California, hitting a car and killing one of its passengers.

Three others in the car were hurt along with the plane’s pilot and passenger.

The plane appeared to be having technical problems before it crash-landed on the freeway in San Diego County near Fallbrook, witnesses said.

In 2000, a former owner guided the same Lancair IV down on to the same freeway after its engine failed.

But this time it landed on its belly before skidding into a nearby car, fatally crushing Antoinette Isbelle, 38, of San Diego, in the back seat.