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page 39 ITALY Afghan Islamists held in Italy targeted London Police in the port city of Bari in southern Italy have arrested two Afghan men suspected of plotting jihadist attacks in Italy, France and the UK. Three other Afghans are still being sought, two of whom may have gone back to Afghanistan, Italian media report. […]
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ITALY
Afghan Islamists held in Italy targeted London
Police in the port city of Bari in southern Italy have arrested two Afghan men suspected of plotting jihadist attacks in Italy, France and the UK.
Three other Afghans are still being sought, two of whom may have gone back to Afghanistan, Italian media report.
Video clips and photos on the two detainees’ mobile phones suggest that they were targeting landmarks in Bari, Rome, Paris and London for attacks.
They included hotels in London’s West India Quay and Royal Victoria Dock.
The detained suspects were named as Hakim Nasiri, 23, and Gulistan Ahmadzai, 29.
Several photos released by police show Mr Nasiri posing with a rifle in a shop or warehouse.
The apparent targets they picked in Rome were the Circus Maximus and Colosseum. Police believe the Afghans had formed a jihadist cell linked to so-called Islamic State (IS).
BRAZIL
Rousseff impeachment process back on track
An impeachment process against Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff appears to be back on track after the acting speaker of the lower house revoked his surprise decision to suspend a crucial vote.
Speaker Waldir Maranhao did not give any reason for his U-turn, which came less than 24 hours after he had called for a new impeachment vote.
The Senate is now expected to vote on Wednesday on an impeachment trial.
If Ms Rousseff loses, she will be suspended for the trial’s duration.
She faces allegations that her government violated fiscal rules, which she says is a common practice in Brazil.
Mr Maranhao’s earlier decision to annul the lower house vote held on 17 April had thrown the impeachment proceedings into disarray.
UNITED STATES
Barack Obama to visit Hiroshima
Barack Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima in Japan later this month, but he will not apologize for the United States’ dropping of an atomic bomb on the city in World War Two, the White House said on Tuesday.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency in 2009 in part for his commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, Obama on May 27 will visit the site of the world’s first nuclear bomb attack with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
With the end of his last term in office approaching in January 2017, Obama will “highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” the White House said in a statement.
“He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future,” U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes wrote in a separate blog.
PHILIPPINE
Election: Rodrigo Duterte wins presidency
Maverick anti-crime candidate Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte has won the Philippine presidential elections, following the withdrawal of his opponents.
Although the official result has not yet been declared, main rival Mar Roxas admitted defeat after polls gave Mr Duterte an unassailable lead.
Mr Duterte said he accepted the mandate with “extreme humility”.
The 71-year-old stirred controversy during campaigning with his incendiary comments.
He has credited his success to his tough stance on law and order.
His record as the crime-crushing mayor of the southern town of Davao, once notorious for its lawlessness, earned him the moniker The Punisher and resonated with voters.
TURKEY
Bomb attack on police vehicle in Diyarbakir kills three
A car bomb killed three people and wounded 45 when it struck a police vehicle on Tuesday in Diyarbakir, the main city in southeastern Turkey where security forces are trying to crush a Kurdish militant insurgency, the governor’s office said.
Explosives in the vehicle were detonated from a distance as an armored police van passed, wounding 12 police officers, the governor’s office said. A Reuters witness heard a big explosion in the city center, followed by ambulance sirens. Black smoke rose over the site and debris was scattered along a wide avenue.
Five of the wounded were inmates being moved while under police custody, a security source said. A senior official said some of them were members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group being taken to hospital and that they may have been targeted for being suspected informants.
FRANCE
Labour reforms: Government to force plan through
The French cabinet has given the go-ahead for Prime Minister Manuel Valls to force through highly controversial labour reforms.
An extraordinary cabinet meeting invoked the French constitution’s rarely used Article 49.3, allowing the government to bypass parliament.
It came after rebel MPs from the governing Socialist party had vowed to vote down the bill.
The reforms will make it easier for employers to hire and fire workers.
Opponents, however, say the bill will allow employers to bypass workers’ rights on pay, overtime and breaks.
The proposed reforms, which also include changes to France’s 35-hour working week, have sparked waves of sometimes violent protests across France.
A demonstration outside the National Assembly in Paris has been called by the Nuit Debout (Up All Night) movement later on Tuesday.
YEMEN
Warring parties agree prisoner swap
The warring parties in Yemen are reported to have agreed to carry out a major prisoner swap within 20 days.
The deal between the government and the Houthi rebel movement is being seen as a breakthrough in weeks of peace talks that have achieved little until now.
Sources from both sides at the talks in Kuwait told the AFP news agency that they would each hand over half of the prisoners they were holding.
The rebel source said that hundreds of detainees would be involved.
More than 6,200 people have been killed and 2.5 million others displaced since the conflict escalated in March 2015, when a Saudi-led multinational coalition launched a military campaign to defeat the rebels and allied security forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and drive them from the capital, Sanaa.
ETHIOPIA
S/Sudan group ‘frees 19 abducted children’
At least 19 Ethiopian children held captive by an armed South Sudanese group for nearly a month have been freed, Ethiopian state media reports.
The 19 were freed following mediation by South Sudan’s government, it adds.
This is the first group to be released since about 125 children were abducted in the cross-border raid.
Members of the Murle community carried out the attack. They have previously been accused of stealing livestock and children to raise as their own.
More than 200 people from the rival Nuer community in Ethiopia’s western Gambella province were killed in the 15 April raid.
MOZAMBIQUE
US joins IMF, World Bank and UK in suspending Mozambique aid
The US government has suspended its $4bn (£2.8bn) annual financial assistance programme to Mozambique.
This follows similar moves by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the UK.
Problems arose after it was discovered that Mozambique had not declared debts of more than $1bn.
The government has admitted that it acted as guarantor for a $622m loan taken out by state-owned Pro-Indicus company, and another loan of $535m by Mozambique Asset Management. Both are involved in the maritime industry.
PAKISTAN
Ex-PM’s kidnapped son rescued in Afghanistan
The kidnapped son of Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has been rescued in Afghanistan in a joint Afghan-US special forces operation.
Pakistani officials said Ali Haider Gilani would be transferred to Pakistan after undergoing medical checks.
Mr Gilani was abducted three years ago in his home town of Multan as he was campaigning in elections for the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP).
The Afghan envoy to Pakistan said he was held by an al-Qaeda-linked group.
“He is well and will be repatriated to his family soon,” Dr Omar Zakhilwal said on his Facebook page.