page 43

page 43 UN More than 700 refugees feared drowned off Italy More than 700 migrants are feared to have drowned this week in three separate ship wrecks in the Mediterranean Sea as they tried to reach Europe in smuggling boats, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Around 100 of those migrants came from a smuggler’s […]

page 43

UN

More than 700 refugees feared drowned off Italy

More than 700 migrants are feared to have drowned this week in three separate ship wrecks in the Mediterranean Sea as they tried to reach Europe in smuggling boats, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Around 100 of those migrants came from a smuggler’s boat that sank Wednesday, while another 550 are missing from a boat that capsized Thursday morning on its way from Libya.

Italian police arrested the captain of the second boat, identified as a 28-year-old Sudanese man, after survivors pointed him out.

A third ship, on Friday, sank with an unknown number of people on board. Around 135 people were rescued from the boat along with 45 bodies, but many more people are still missing from the boat.

“The situation is chaotic, we cannot be sure of the numbers, but we fear up to 700 people may have drowned in three shipwrecks this week,” UNHCR spokesman Federico Fossi said.

In total Friday, more than 1,900 migrants were rescued from boats in the Mediterranean in 16 different operations, according to the Italian Coast Guard.

TURKEY

New PM wins vote of confidence in parliament

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s government on Sunday won a vote of confidence in parliament as well as approval for his legislative program, parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman said.

Yildirim is a close ally of President Tayyip Erdogan and a co-founder of the ruling AK Party. He was declared prime minister after he was elected as the new leader of the AK Party at a party congress.

Yildirim’s appointment marks another step in Erdogan’s plan to create a full presidential system in Turkey.

Yildirim replaces Ahmet Davutoglu, who said he was stepping down after weeks of tension with Erdogan.

Kahraman said the result was 315 votes for approving the government and 138 against.

PALESTINE

President Abbas says ‘ready’ for Paris peace talks

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told a gathering of the Arab League that the body he represents is ready to accept a “fair and just peace” based on internationally recognized U.N. resolutions in accordance with the 2003 Arab peace initiative.

A French-sponsored peace conference is due to begin in Paris on June 3.

Arab League foreign ministers met Saturday at the group’s headquarters in Cairo to discuss resumption of the long-stalled Arab-Israeli peace process. France has offered to host a peace conference on July 3 to help jump start negotiations.

President Mahmoud Abbas told the gathering that his side was willing to attend the conference and resume talks, but in accordance with previously-stipulated conditions.

He says that the ultimate goal of the peace process is the “two-state solution” with each state living side-by-side in peace.

IRAN

Iran, S/Arabia fail to solve hajj row

Iran and Saudi Arabia have failed to resolve a row over the Hajj pilgrimage and Iranian citizens will not travel to Mecca this year, Tehran says.

Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati blamed “obstacles raised by the Saudis”. Saudi Arabia blamed “unacceptable” Iranian conditions.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had, in a statement, said the authorities in the Kingdom did not prevent Iranians from performing hajj.

It noted that the Iran’s delegation, at a meeting with Saudi Hajj officials in Riyadh, declined to sign agreement to seal the arrangements for this year’s Hajj exercise unless their demands are met.

But Mr Jannati said that “after two series of negotiations without any results because of obstacles raised by the Saudis, Iranian pilgrims will unfortunately not be able to take part in the Hajj” in September.

It blamed the Saudis for failing to meet Iranian demands for “the security and respect” of Iranian pilgrims.

IRAQ

Army makes gains in battle with IS

Iraqi government forces have made gains in their offensive to drive Islamic State militants from Falluja – one the country’s two major cities in IS hands.

The nearby town of Karma, the first line of IS defence, is now in the army’s hands.

Large numbers of elite combat troops have also been deployed near Falluja, about 45km (28 miles) west of Baghdad.

But IS hit back north of Falluja, killing and injuring some Iraqi forces in a suicide car bomb attack.

A counter-attack south of the city was repelled with the help of helicopter gunships.

This comes just days after the IS commander in Falluja, Maher al-Bilawi, was killed along with dozens of militants in US-led coalition air strikes, according to Washington.

LIBYA

Forces seek to encircle Islamic State-held Sirte

Forces loyal to Libya’s U.N.-backed unity government say they aim to encircle Sirte, Islamic State’s stronghold in Libya, having moved to within 15 km (10 miles) of the city center.

The forces, composed of fighters mostly from the western city of Misrata, are now closer to Sirte than they have been for nearly a year. Last summer Misrata brigades withdrew from Sirte and Islamic State took full control there.

Western states are hoping the unity government can bring together Libya’s competing factions to defeat Islamic State, though the new government has struggled to secure support beyond its power base in the west of the country.

Earlier this month Islamic State surged forward towards Misrata, which lies about 240 km northwest of Sirte, taking control of the town of Abu Grain and a number of villages and checkpoints in the area before being pushed back.

MALI

UN Peacekeepers day: Five ‘blue helmets’ killed in Mali

By Abdullateef Salau

At least five United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an ambush on the convoy of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in central Mali on Sunday.

The attack occurred on the International Day of Peacekeepers, a day set aside for the global community to honour UN peacekeepers.

“According to preliminary information, five blue helmets (peacekeepers) were killed. Another was seriously injured,” MINUSMA said in a statement.

MINUSMA head, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, condemned the act as a “heinous act of terrorism”.

“The Mission expressed its condolences to the families of victims, as well as to the Government and people of Mali, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured peacekeeper,” the statement said.

Sunday’s attack came just two days after authorities reported that five Malian soldiers were killed and four wounded on Friday when their vehicles hit a mine in the north and then came under sustained fire.

Ukraine

Fire kills 17 in care home near Kiev

Seventeen people have died in a fire at a building housing elderly people in a village near Ukraine’s capital Kiev.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday in a two-storey building housing some 35 people.

“Emergency services units saved 18 people, five of whom have been hospitalised with burns of varying degrees of severity,” Ukraine’s emergencies ministry said.

The authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman described the fire as a “terrible tragedy that has caused irreparable loss” and said the government offered “sincere condolences” to the victims’ families.

India

Police arrest five in Delhi over assaults on Africans

Indian police say five people have been arrested over attacks on six Africans last Thursday, the latest in a number of assaults that have strained ties between African countries and India.

Earlier this month, a Congolese man was beaten to death following a dispute over hiring an auto-rickshaw. India has promised tough action against attackers who target Africans.

Three separate cases have been registered following last Thursday’s incidents, in which six African nationals suffered injuries.

Delhi police official Ishwar Singh said the scuffles on Thursday night took place after local residents objected to the Africans drinking alcohol and playing loud music in the street.

FRANCE

Gov’t to stand firm on labour reform

The French government will stand by its labour reform plans, it said on Sunday, while resuming talks with unions in an effort to end widespread protests before the country hosts the Euro 2016 soccer tournament next month.

The hardline CGT union has organised street protests, train strikes and refinery blockades to pressure the government to scrap plans that would make it easier for companies to hire and fire workers.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was quoted as saying on Sunday that he is determined not to join a long list of politicians who have conceded defeat to protesters.