NEWS SUMMARY FROM AROUND THE WORLD 16 September, 2014 18:51 French PM wins confidence vote in parliament French Prime Minister Manuel Valls narrowly won a parliamentary confidence vote with his reshuffled government on Tuesday, according to the vote tally. Valls secured a majority, with 269 deputies in the National Assembly voting in favor of the governments policies. There were 244 votes against it. Valls earlier defended the reforms of his cabinet, saying that Frances costly social model must be updated but preserved. The ruling Socialist Party plans to put through 50 billion euros of public spending taxes in the next three years, while cutting taxes for business. 17:58 Israel claims mortar fired from Gaza, Hamas insists its committed to truce The militant group Hamas says it is unaware of any mortars fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, reports Reuters. The militants say they are committed to the ceasefire. Earlier, the Israeli military reported a mortar bomb attack, the first such incident since an August 26 truce halted a seven-week war in the Palestinian enclave. There were no casualties or damage, Israel said. 15:10 Ukraine parliament adopts ‘lustration law’ Ukrainian MPs on Tuesday voted for the law on “lustration,” aimed at “purging power” and carrying out checks to decide whether citizens can hold government posts. The legislation needed 226 votes in the second reading, while it gained only 217 during the first voting on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported. At the third voting later in the evening, 231 deputies voted for the law. The draft law was adopted in the first reading in August. MPs say the law would help curb corruption and return citizens’ trust in authorities, but critics say it could be used by the government against political opponents. 13:29 Authorities in S. Sudan ban foreign workers - report South Sudan’s authorities announced a ban on foreign workers on Tuesday, including staff with foreign aid agencies. They also ordered foreign workers be replaced by locals, AFP said. The information minister, Michael Makuei, said the order only covered “jobs South Sudanese can do.” No explanation was immediately given for the ban. It comes as the country is heavily dependent on foreign aid to tackle what aid agencies warn is a looming famine caused by nine months of civil war. 12:47 Aviation watchdog finds no technical breakdown in 2013 Boeing crash in Kazan, Russia A commission formed by the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) has found no technical breakdown in a Boeing 737 crash in Kazan, Russia, on November 17, 2013, ITAR-TASS reported. All 50 people on board died after the plane crashed while attempting to land at Kazan international airport in the republic of Tatarstan. The commission said it is completing its work to find out the causes of the Tatarstan airliner’s crash. 11:52 2 killed as fog causes 150-car pileup in Netherlands Two people were killed on Tuesday after heavy fog caused a 150-car pileup on a busy highway in southern Netherlands, AFP reported. The accident happened during rush hour, shortly after 8am (06:00 GMT) on the A58 highway between the southern cities of Goes and Middelburg. The road, about 150km southwest of Amsterdam, has been closed off in both directions, as rescue workers try to reach some trapped in their cars. 10:21 1 person killed, another wounded in shooting at Copenhagen debt court A person opened fire inside a court building behind the city hall in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, on Tuesday, authorities said. One man was killed and another was seriously wounded, AP reported. A suspect was arrested nearby. There was no immediate information on the victims or the suspect. Soeren Axelsen, the head of the Copenhagen City Court, described the incident at the Bailiff’s court as some kind of “a family showdown.” 09:16 31 militants killed in Pakistan fighting – army Pakistan’s military said on Tuesday it killed 31 militants in airstrikes and ground clashes along its restive border with Afghanistan. Three soldiers also died in the fighting, AFP reported. The airstrikes took place in the Tirah Valley of the Khyber tribal district, where 20 terrorists were killed, and hideouts and two ammunition dumps were destroyed. Jet fighters bombed forces of the Taliban and another banned militant group, Lashkar-e-Islam, in the district’s Tordara Koki Khel area. Militants launched a separate cross-border attack at a military post in the North Waziristan tribal district, where 11 terrorists were reportedly killed. 08:39 100mn people saved from hunger over decade – UN The number of hungry people in the world has dropped by 100 million over the last 10 years, the UN said on Tuesday. The global number was down over 200 million since the early 1990s, but “about 805 million people in the world, or one in nine, suffer from hunger,” the UN’s food agencies said. Asia is home to the majority of the underfed, AFP reported. 07:20 Six police killed by roadside bomb in Egypt’s Sinai Six Egyptian policemen from an armored convoy were killed on Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded in a volatile part of northern Sinai, Reuters reported. Two others were wounded in the attack, according to the Interior Ministry. Militants in Sinai have stepped up their attacks on policemen and soldiers since then-President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was toppled in July 2013. 06:18 US warplanes carry out first airstrike on Islamic State near Baghdad US warplanes have carried out their first airstrike on the Islamic State near Baghdad, AFP reported. “US military forces continued to attack ISIL [IS] terrorists in Iraq, employing attack and fighter aircraft to conduct two airstrikes Sunday and Monday in support of Iraqi security forces near Sinjar and southwest of Baghdad,” US Central Command said. The strikes reportedly destroyed six IS vehicles near Sinjar and an IS fighting position southwest of Baghdad that had been firing on Iraqi forces. 06:09 Boko Haram gunmen kidnap 50 women, several children Over 50 women and an undisclosed number of children have been abducted by Boko Haram insurgents, This Day newspaper reported, citing locals of the Michika and Gulak communities in Adamawa State. A security source said the sect members had called women last Saturday to collect food items from them at Gulak, the secretariat of Madagali Local Government Area, and then they selected some of the women. One witness said the victims were loaded on to trucks and taken away. 05:52 Earthquake stops bullet trains in Tokyo The running of bullet trains in Tokyo area has been brought to a halt due to a 5.6-magnitude quake, ITAR-TASS reported. The ‘Tokai-2’ nuclear plant, located in the area, hasn’t been damaged, and the radiation levels don’t exceeding normal figures. Japanese authorities first issued a tsunami warning, but later canceled it. 05:06 Suicide car bomber blasts 200 meters from the US embassy in Kabul A suicide bomber targeted a foreign convoy passing on a busy road running from the US embassy to the international airport of the Afghan capital, Kabul. There was no immediate information about casualties, reported the chief of criminal investigations for Kabul Police, Faird Afzalai. A pillar of white smoke could be seen after the explosion rattled houses mere 200 meters from the US diplomatic mission headquarters. The terror attack took place as two Afghan presidential contenders negotiate the formation of some sort of national unity government. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. 04:51 Airstrikes of unknown origin targeted Islamist militia near Tripoli, one dead Four airstrikes have hit the small city of Gharyan, 50 miles (80km) south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, occupied by Islamist-allied militias, Mohammed al-Gharyani, spokesman for the Libya Dawn alliance, reported on Monday. The party which launched an offensive remains unknown. A militia commander said on condition of anonymity that the airstrikes were targeting ammunition warehouses and were conducted to help rival militias recapture Tripoli. US officials alleged that similar airstrikes were inflicted in the past by Egypt and UAE military, AP reported. Cairo has already denied allegations of interfering in Libya whereas, the UAE has withheld comment so far. 03:28 Over 12,000 evacuated in Philippines over fear of volcano eruption More than 12,000 people have been evacuated from around the Philippines’ most active volcano, as fears of an eruption grow, local authorities said. Mount Mayon, located in the central Bicol region, recently recorded a series of quakes and rockfalls — all signs of a possible eruption. We are now raising the alert status of Mayon Volcano from alert level 2 to 3, Reuters quoted Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), as saying on Tuesday. The governor of the central Albay province, Joey Salceda, confirmed the evacuation of more than 12,000 people. What the alert level 3 did was to fast-track the preparation to evacuate 12,000 families in the 6-8 km extended danger zone, Salceda said. The evacuees have been placed in temporary shelters for up to three months, he added. Mayon has erupted around 50 times over the last 600 years, with the most damaging incident recorded in February 1841, which killed 1,200 people.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 19:26:22 +0000
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