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E. Ukraine militia ‘ready to withdraw’ heavy artillery from separation line

The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics are ready to pull back heavy artillery from the line separating militia-held territories from those under Kiev’s control in compliance with the Minsk agreement, according to a joint statement made by top officials of the republics on Friday. The statement said they will withdraw weapons if Kiev is ready to do to the same, adding that the only thing remaining is to“set the date.” The statement was made during talks between Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deynego, the Donbass representatives at the Minsk negotiations. The Minsk document adopted by Kiev and the opposition in September also includes a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

American citizen shot, injured in Saudi Arabia

An American citizen was injured when his car came under fire in Saudi Arabia's eastern al-Ihsaa province, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The man was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Another American was in the car but he was not harmed, AP reported. As of Friday afternoon, police had not yet determined the source of the gunfire.

ISIS attack Kurdish outposts in Iraq, kill senior commander

The Islamic State (IS) killed a senior Kurdish commander, Brigadier General Shirko Rauf, and five Kurdish peshmerga forces in a major offensive on Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province Friday. The assault on areas south and west of the city began at around midnight and involved heavy and medium weapons. Bombings elsewhere in Iraq left at least 21 people dead, Reuters reports.

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At least 49 killed in blast at Shiite mosque in southern Pakistan

At least 49 people were killed in a powerful explosion at a crowded Shiite mosque in Pakistan during Friday prayers, Reuters said. The blast was caused either by a suicide bomber or an explosive device that went off in the center of Shikarpur, a city in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, according to police.

Donetsk, Lugansk representatives leaving Minsk, contact group meeting on Ukraine canceled

The representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego, said they were planning to leave Minsk on Friday, Tass reported. Pushilin earlier said that he was unaware if negotiations between the Contact Group on Ukraine would take place in the Belarusian capital on Friday. A senior Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official said that peace talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine must be attended by the leaders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi spared from flogging for 3rd time

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been spared again from his weekly flogging sentence, AFP reported, citing his wife. Badawi, 31, has been sentenced for “insulting Islam” to be flogged 20 times over on successive Fridays, for a total of 1,000 lashes. Badawi, whose family live as refugees in Canada, has also been given a 10-year prison sentence and fined about $319,000. His wife, Ensaf Haidar, was in Ottawa on Thursday to back politicians in requesting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper personally demand Badawi’s freedom, the Globe and Mail reported.

Trolleybus comes under shelling in Donetsk, 5 killed - reports

A trolleybus has come under shelling in Donetsk’s Matrosova Avenue, TASS reported, citing a spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Five people in the trolleybus were killed, officials in the republic say, according to media. Initial reports said two people were killed.

At least 25 killed, 50 others injured in mosque explosion in Pakistan’s Shikarpur

At least 25 people were killed and 50 others injured in an explosion at a Shiite mosque in the Pakistani city of Shikarpur on Friday, the Express Tribune said. According to initial reports, the blast occurred during Friday prayers at the Karbala Maula Imambargah in Lakhi Dar.

19yr man who forced his way into Dutch TV had ‘no terrorist links’

A man who forced his way into the Dutch national broadcaster and demanded to go on live television had no known links to terrorist organizations, Reuters reported, citing police. The 19-year-old said he had planted explosives, but police said he later admitted he had made the threats up. He also used a replica gun. The man will be arraigned in a closed court hearing later Friday.

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe elected chairman of African Union

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 90, one of Africa's most divisive figures, was elected the head of the African Union on Friday, Reuters said. The only leader Zimbabwe has known since independence from Britain in 1980, Mugabe assumed the chairmanship, a rotating, largely ceremonial role, at an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Islamic State militants stage attack near Iraq’s Kirkuk, 18 killed in Baghdad

Islamic State militants struck at Kurdish forces southwest of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday morning, Reuters said. The militants launched mortar fire and attacked positions held by Kurdish peshmerga fighters in four districts southwest of the city. In a separate attack, at least 18 people were killed when two bombs went off in Baghdad’s Bab al-Sharqi district Friday morning. Three civilians were later killed and at least 10 others wounded in northwestern Baghdad by mortars. In the city of Samarra, about 125km north of the capital, two suicide bombers targeted a security checkpoint, killing three and wounding five members of the police and Shiite militias.

Donetsk representative travels to Minsk for Ukraine contact group meeting

Denis Pushilin, the official representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic, on Friday went to Minsk, Belarus, for a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine, RIA Novosti reported. Envoys from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are expected to participate in the negotiations amid increasing fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Blast at Shia mosque in southern Pakistan kills at least 20

At least 20 people have been killed in a powerful explosion at a Shia mosque in southern Pakistan, the BBC reported, citing officials. Police said that at least 50 people were wounded in the attack after Friday prayers in the district of Shikarpur. The blast could have been a suicide attack, according to initial media reports.

Save Dissent to Save Democracy THE rising instances of physical violence and threats against political opponents and the inability to accept dissent must raise huge concerns amongst all of us who see democracy as perhaps the really stellar achievement since Independence. AAP’s attack on BJP headquarters and acts of arson committed under the very noses of their elite leadership; the attacks on Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in Gujarat in the last two days; the recent manhandling of the caretaker of journalist Siddharth Varadarajan’s house by some garden variety thugs; and the violence and threats meted out regularly to their political opponents by political parties is surely deplorable and condemnable. This is a fatally flawed trend which will destroy the very foundations of our democratic institutions if not pushed back with all the strength and condemnation that the civil society can mobilise. Replaying the past To begin with, it must be clarified that we should ...