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Email to friendAnother roadblock tossed in front of jailed Aussie journalist Peter Greste – A massive and sudden population shift in the Syrian Civil War – What kind of cease-fire has constant shelling? – And much more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says he cannot interfere with the case that saw Australian journalist Peter Greste jailed for seven years. Greste and his two coworkers at Al Jazeera News and codefendants are appealing their convictions for allegedly broadcasting false reports during the strife in Egypt after al-Sisi’s military deposed then-president Mohamed Morsi.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has won reelection, and is talking with smaller parties about joining his new government, even though the final vote may give his National Party a one-seat outright majority. Labor pulled its worst showing in 90 years, dropping to less than a quarter of the vote. Kiwi Labor leader David Cunliffe is blaming the circus sideshow provided by Kim Dotcom for sucking attention from Labor and The Greens.
Some 60,000 Syrian Kurds have fled north into Turkey in just 24 hours, fearing a massacre by the advancing forces of Islamic State (IS). The Sunni extremist group seized dozens of towns and villages near the border, sparking fears of an attack on the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani, known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic. Past territorial gains by IS have been followed by the slaughter of minority groups and religions.
So, why did Islamic State release 49 Turkish hostages? Observers doubt the Turkish government’s story claim that it did not offer a quid pro quo or pay ransom. Turkish officials gave only broad descriptions of how the group was freed. There is growing speculation that Turkey’s refusal to take part in the US-led coalition against the militant group is related to the release.
NATO says the ceasefire between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists exists “in name only”. Both sides are still firing artillery rounds at each other, and a dynamite factory in Donetsk that had been converted from mining purposes to arming rebels was hit. The resulting explosion could be seen, heard, and felt for miles around. Russia still denies arming the rebels.
A small mob in Sierra Leone attacked a burial team attempting to inter Ebola victims, despite a three-day lock-down in which everyone is supposed to stay inside to prevent the spread of the killer virus, and allow crews to locate new patients and collect the dead. Police scattered the group. Medecins sans Frontieres says such quarantines don’t work, and usually only get in the way of getting aid and personnel to infected areas.
At least five people are dead and as many as 200,000 people around the Philippine capital Manila were forced to flee flooding caused by Tropical Storm Fung-Wong (known as Mario in the Philippine storm-naming system). Overall, some 700,000 people are affected. Even Governor Imee Marcos of Ilocos Norte on the northwest section of the main island of Luzon is stranded in her home, with a portable generator powering some computers that are keeping
Brazilian police arrested a man for allegedly killing three drug traffickers – and the suspect is also the confessed murderer of an elderly Roman Catholic Nun and Amazon rainforest defender a decade ago. Rayfran das Neves Sales admitted shooting 73-year old American nun Dorothy Stang in Brazil’s Para state in 2005. He served only eight years of a 27-year prison term, and was released to house arrest last year. Local ranchers accused Sister Dorothy of stirring up trouble among the squatter farmers who often clash with landowners and loggers.
Catalan’s regional parliament says it will go ahead with a non-binding independence referendum to be put before voters in November. This is despite warnings from Madrid that the referendum is illegal, and the loss of Scotland’s independence bid. In fact, just the fact that the Scots tried has emboldened the Catalan separatist leaders to move forward.