13 October 2016
Week in Brief: International
Europe
BELGIUM: Two policemen were stabbed in Brussels. The attacker was arrested after another policeman shot him in the leg. Investigators are exploring the possibility that it was a terrorist attack.
FRANCE: The French and German defence ministers signed an agreement in Paris for co-operation between the two countries’ airforces. They are to share a new airbase at Orleans.
Jean-Marie le Pen went to court to have his expulsion from the Front National party quashed.
President Hollande’s plan to relocate 12,000 migrants to towns throughout France is causing increasing resentment. There have been reports that those objecting to the policy have engaged in arson attacks and the firing of warning shots as well as taking part in protests.
GEORGIA: In this week’s parliamentary elections, the governing Georgia Dream party is on course for victory. Georgia is an Ex-Soviet state hoping to join Nato and the EU.
GERMANY: Police in Chemnitz have detained three people and are searching for a fourth following an anti-terrorism raid on an apartment in the city.
Police have caught the fourth man they were looking for, a Syrian, following a raid on an apartment where they found bomb – making equipment.
PORTUGAL: Former prime minister Antonio Guterres has been elected as the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
RUSSIA: The defence ministry is considering re-opening military bases in Cuba and Vietnam. The Dumas voted for the indefinite posting of Russian troops in Syria.
Russia has moved nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kalinigrad, its enclave between Poland and Lithuania.
President Putin cancelled a visit to France due later this month. He was to open a new Orthodox Church with President Hollande, but Hollande has said that they would discus Syria instead. Hollande has suggested that Russia could be prosecuted for war crimes for air strikes on Aleppo.
SWEDEN: Immigration is to be restricted, as are benefits for immigrants already in the country. It is said that these measures are being taken following acts of violence committed by immigrants. The decision to re-introduce border controls has cross-party support.
Middle East and Africa
ETHIOPIA: Violent protests have continued, following the deaths of at least 55 people in a stampede triggered by police firing tear gas into a crowd last week.
IRAQ: Friendly fire killed 21 men when an airstrike hit fighters from a pro-government tribal militia who had just fought off an Isis attack in a town near Mosul.
There are reports of Isis setting fire to oil wells south of Mosul and of hundreds of thousands of civilians escaping from Mosul and fleeing to Syria, frightened of the Shia militias who are about to try to take Mosul from Isis. It is believed that British special forces will be assisting Kurdish fighters and the Iraqi government in their efforts to expel Isis from the town.
NIGERIA: President Buhari is selling two jets out of the presidential fleet of 11. Nigeria’s economy is suffering from the fall in oil prices.
SYRIA: Russia has sent more S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries to Latakia airbase. Assad’s enemies have no airforce, which suggests that Russia is preparing in case the US decides to launch air attacks on Assad’s forces. Assad’s forces continue to advance into rebel-held Aleppo.
The UN envoy has said that he will, personally, escort jihadists out of Aleppo. They are part of a group of fighters linked to Al-Queda. Rebel fighters have asked whether the offer is open to Shia militias as well.
YEMEN: Houthi rebels reported that at least 150 people were killed and hundreds more wounded by a Saudi-coalition air attack on the funeral of the father of one of their leaders. Saudi Arabia, which backs the government overthrown by the Houthis, at first denied the allegation.
Far East, Asia and Pacific
AFGHANISTAN: EU humanitarian aid of 5 billion euros was made conditional on the return of tens of thousands of failed asylum seekers.
14 people were killed in an attack on a Shia shrine in Kabul as worshippers were preparing for the mourning rituals of Ashura.
AUSTRALIA: Opposition MPs are planning to block the prime minister’s attempt to put the question of same – sex marriage to a national vote.
CHINA: 20 people were killed when 4 residential buildings collapsed in eastern China.
INDIA: Pakistani actors and film-makers have been banned from working in India’s film industry, as tensions between the two countries increase.
JAPAN: Police are investigating evidence that a serial killer has been murdering patients in a hospital at Yokohama by injecting disinfectant into intravenous drips.
PAKISTAN: Parliament passed legislation against sex crimes, including bills for tougher sentencing for rape, and for ‘honour killing’ sentences to be set by courts and not by victims’ families.
America
COLOMBIA: President Santos was awarded the Nobel peace prize in recognition of his attempts to end the war with Farc rebels. He vowed to continue his attempts, in spite of the referendum rejecting the terms of the current peace deal.
HAITI: More than 900 people were killed when Hurricane Matthew hit the island. 13 have died in a fresh outbreak of cholera. Many towns were destroyed and a third of a million people were left in need of emergency help. Emergency services and aid workers are still struggling to reach some parts of the south and south west of the island.
USA: In the live TV debate between vice-presidential running mates, Mike Pence (Republican) was judged to have performed better than Tim Kaine (Democrat). The second live televised debate between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton was dominated by the release, earlier in the week, of a tape recording sexual boasts by Mr Trump.
Storms hit the Atlantic coast as Hurricane Matthew swept north. There were floods, power failures and mass evacuations in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Ten deaths were reported.
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