TUNISIA
Marchers mark assassination
Thousands of people have taken to the streets to mark 40 days since the assassination of an opposition leader that triggered nationwide riots, led to the resignation of the prime minister and plunged the country into political crisis. Chokri Belaid, leader of the leftist Popular Front and a critic of the governing Ennahda party, was gunned down outside his home on Feb. 6. Police have arrested four suspects belonging to a radical Islamic group over their alleged involvement in the slaying, but the government says the killer himself remains at large. According to police, about 10,000 people marched in Tunis on Saturday brandishing banners such as “Who killed Belaid?” and “No to violence.” After overthrowing former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, the country is undergoing a rocky transition to democracy.
DR CONGO
Rebels flee to Rwanda
Several hundred fighters from the country’s M23 rebel group fled to neighboring Rwanda on Friday and Saturday after heavy fighting with a rival faction, Rwandan officials said. Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo confirmed that 600 fighters were among an influx of people that crossed into her country late on Friday and early Saturday from the country’s chronically restive east. “The soldiers and officers from DR [the Democratic Republic of the] Congo that have entered Rwanda have been disarmed and detained. Several wounded among them are receiving treatment with assistance from the Red Cross,” she said in a statement. Among the fighters was M23’s ex-political leader Jean-Marie Runiga, whose faction has been fighting rivals loyal to the group’s military leader, Sultani Makenga, since March 9. Also in the group that fled is Baudouin Ngaruye, a top military commander of Runiga’s wing who has been under UN sanctions since November last year for his alleged role in a 2009 massacre and mass rape.
GREECE
Prisoner takes hostages
Authorities say a convicted prisoner trying to escape for the third time has taken six hostages — both prison officers and prisoners — and demands to be allowed to leave the prison. The prisoner claims to be heavily armed. A photograph shot by a prisoner shows Albanian convict Alket Rizaj holding what he claims to be a live grenade besides six handcuffed hostages. Police special forces have deployed outside the Malandrino prison while prison officers and a prosecutor try to negotiate with Rizaj. His lawyer is also present. Rizaj, convicted for murders, has escaped twice before, in 2006 and 2009, from Korydallos maximum security prison in Athens, both times by helicopters that picked him and another convict, Vassilis Paleokostas, from the prison’s courtyard.
UNITED KINGDOM
Minister makes album
Parliamentary Undersecretary for Transport Norman Baker is releasing his debut rock album at the age of 55, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. The Liberal Democrat lawmaker is the lead singer and main lyricist with the Reform Club, a group he originally formed decades earlier. He had thought about cutting an album for 30 years, but finally got round to it after writing a list of things he wanted to achieve before he dies. “I’ve done it now because I thought I should get round to it before I’m too clapped out. That’ll be about 10 years hence,” he said. He said the album, titled Always Tomorrow, was not political.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number