International Snapshots

13102014

Suicide car bomber attacks NATO military convoy, kills Afghan civilian

A suicide car bomber rammed a NATO military convoy along a major road out of Kabul early Monday, killing one Afghan civilian, Reuters reported. Hours later, another suicide bomber killed a woman outside a clinic in a province east of Kabul. A third bomb exploded in a market on the Afghanistan capital’s northern outskirts, wounding 22 people including three children, officials said.

Hundreds break down protest barriers in Hong Kong business district

Hundreds of unidentified people tried to break down protest barriers in the heart of Hong Kong’s business district on Monday, Reuters said. The attackers, some wearing masks, scuffled with protesters who have occupied the streets for the past two weeks. Some barricades were surrounded by taxi drivers who opposed the protests, which have seriously affected their business. Police reportedly tried to protect protesters and barricades.

​Bolivia’s Evo Morales declares victory in presidential election

President Evo Morales has won a third term as Bolivian leader, securing 60.5 percent of the vote according to a count released by local TV channel ATB. His closest rival, Samuel Doria Medina, had 24 percent, Reuters reports. “This win is a triumph for anti-imperialists and anti-colonialists,” Morales announced from the balcony of his palace to thousands of supporters. Bolivia’s first indigenous leader took office in 2006 and after the latest victory will remain the state leader until January 2020.

58 dead in Iraq triple suicide bombing

A triple suicide bombing in Iraq’s Diyala province left at least 58 dead, including the police chief of the western Anbar province. An official from the Kurdish Asayish security forces told AP the first bomber detonated an explosives vest by the gateway to a security compound which also houses the office of a main Kurdish political party. Minutes later, two suicide bombers crashed explosive-laden vehicles into the compound, causing extensive damage. So-called Islamic State (IS) militants claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had been carried out by foreign fighters.

OSCE agrees to increase number of monitors to 1,500

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has agreed to increase the number of its monitors in Ukraine to 1,500 people, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said. Earlier the OSCE said it considered Poroshenko’s request “premature”, because it “hasn’t even reached the number” under the current mandate. There are at the moment 92 monitors on a mission in eastern Ukraine, while the mandate provides for up to 500. To change the mandate the OSCE needs approval from all 57 member-states.

Uniformed Taliban militants storm Afghan city’s police HQ

Two Taliban gunmen have attacked the police headquarters of Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in northern Afghanistan. Two people died in the attack and a further 18 have been injured, local officials told Reuters. “It was the first such incident in Balkh province,” said Abdul Razaq Qaderi, the acting police chief of Balkh. “Police reacted quickly and killed both of them.” The Taliban have claimed responsibility.

Putin to attend G20 in Australia

Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, in November, despite tensions surrounding Ukraine over the course of the past year. “I spoke with the Finance Minister of Russia only yesterday… and he did confirm that President Putin will be coming to the G20 leaders’ summit in Brisbane,”Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday morning.“That has certainly been the consensus of other members of the G20 that President Putin should attend. And I think there will be some full and frank dialogue with President Putin at that meeting.”

​EU grants 3.9mn euro to refugees from Kobani

The European Commission has decided to give 3.9 million euro ($4.9 million) of humanitarian aid “to help meet the urgent needs of the thousands of people” who are seeking shelter in neighboring Turkey to escape the Islamic State advance to the Iraqi town of Kobani, the European Commission said in a statement. “Over 180,000 Syrians have been displaced to Turkey by the fierce fighting in Kobani. This further adds to the impact of what is the biggest humanitarian crisis of our times. We are directing urgently needed funds to help the humanitarian organizations on the ground deal with the massive influx of refugees,” said Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.

​Russia’s president, Bahrain ruler meet prior to Sochi F1 Grand Prix

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he noticed positive tendencies in the relations between Russia and Bahrain. He was holding talks with the country’s leader, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, with who he was going to attend Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi. “I am very glad that we have an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations and discuss the situation in the region,” he said, addressing Bahrain’s leader. Later, the Russian ambassador in Bahrain, Victor Smirnov, told journalists that Moscow and Manama have signed bilateral cultural and tourism agreements.

Bodies found in Mexican mass graves aren’t students

Some of the bodies recovered from the mass grave in Mexico are not those of 43 missing students, Angel Aguirre, the governor of violence-wracked Guerrero state, said. He also didn’t say how many bodies were identified. “I can say that some of the bodies, according to the work of forensics experts, do not correspond to the youths from Ayotzinapa,” he said. The grave was found at the beginning of October on the outskirts of Iguala, in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, where 43 students went missing on September 27 after a protest in support of the rights of rural teachers.

​Police chief killed in Iraq

A bomb has killed Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Dulaimiof, the police chief of Iraqi Anbar province, Councilman Faleh al-Issawi said. The bomb exploded Sunday morning near a convoy traveling through an area to the north of the provincial capital, Ramadi. It’s not yet clear if other officers were killed. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

​Police chiefs killed in Iranian plane crash

Three senior Iranian police officers were among seven people killed in a plane crash after a police turbo-propeller aircraft went down in the restive Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan, local media reported. The highest-ranking officer was the deputy of Iran’s police inspectorate. The officers were heading from Tehran to the provincial area of Zahedan to investigate a series of attacks on security forces this week. The reports said the plane was not shot down.

Cyclone Hudhud leaves two dead

Cyclonic storm Hudhud has hit India with speeds up to 195km per hour (over 120mph), leaving two people dead, while damaging everything in its wake – uprooting trees, batteringbuildings and so on. Earlier a 150,000-person evacuation was underway, as the port city of Visakhapatnam, home to two million people and a major naval base, received the full impact of Hudhud after the force had gathered up the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal. Two people, however, strayed from the safe areas – one of them was killed by a falling tree, the other by a wall. Reuters spoke by phone to K. Hymavathi, the special commissioner for disaster management for Andhra Pradesh state, who said “the Visakhapatnam situation is very serious.”

​5.2 quake hits Indonesia

A 5.2 earthquake has hit the Indian Ocean west of Java, Indonesia, the national meteorology agency, BMKG, told RIA Novosti news agency. The epicenter was located some 95 kilometers northwest of Pandeglang City in the west of the island, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The agency didn’t issue a tsunami warning. No reports of casualties or damage were immediately reported.

​500 kg of cocaine seized off Colombia’s coast

Half a ton of cocaine has been seized in a joint operation between Colombia and France, according to the Colombian authorities. The special operation managed to intercept a speed boat traveling from Colombia to the Dominican Republic where the drugs were found. Three Colombians aboard the boat were arrested, according to the El Heraldo publication. So far this year alone, the Colombian navy has seized more than 29 tons of drugs in the Caribbean Sea.
Media agencies