Palestinian joy as Israel agrees Gaza truce |
Hamas and Israel agree long-term deal which will ease Israeli blockade of enclave after talks brokered by Egypt.
Last updated: 27 Aug 2014 07:15
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The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said on Tuesday from the occupied West Bank that a formula had been accepted by all parties and that a ceasefire had gone into effect at 1600 GMT.
He hailed the agreement as a chance to "build a new nation and end the occupation", before thanking Egypt, Qatar and the US for their roles in brokering the agreement made during indirect talks in Cairo.
The Reuters and AP news agencies quoted Israeli officials as saying that the Israeli government had accepted the deal. Israeli media reported the same.
Hamas's exiled deputy leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said the agreement was a "victory for the resistance".
Crowds took to the bombed-out streets of Gaza to celebrate the end of hostilities. Many used the v-sign to signify Palestinian victory over Israel.
New coal power stations threat to EU’s emissions target
Burning Europe’s lignite reserves would wipe out carbon budget from 2020 until the end of the century, says Greenpeace
New coal power stations designed to burn Europe’s massive deposits of lignite pose a serious threat to the continent’s decarbonisation efforts, according to figures released on Wednesday.
Analysts from Greenpeace’s Energydesk compiled data from the German government that shows burning Europe’s reserves of lignite would wipe out the EU’s entire carbon budget from 2020 until the end of the century.
Lignite – also known as brown coal – power stations currently make up more than 10% of the EU’s total CO2 emissions. Greenpeace said that if Europe is to continue to play its part in keeping the world within the internationally accepted limit of 2C of warming, 90% of the carbon contained in its lignite reserves must remain buried.
Pact with a dictator?
Syrian President Bashir al-Assad is isolated on the world stage. But now he's offering the West military cooperation in the fight against "Islamic State," painting himself as a guarantor of stability.
When the Arab Spring unfolded in Syria, it appeared that the Syrian president's fate was sealed. The heads of state of other Arab countries had fallen one by one: Ben Ali fled, Mubarak was ousted, Gadhafi was murdered. Things weren't looking good for Bashar al-Assad in the autumn of 2011. Thousands of Syrians were protesting against their president, fighting his regime with all they had.
But Assad refused to be chased away. He issued continual warnings against the "Islamist terrorists" in his country, and clamped down brutally on his own people.
Japanese court rules that nuclear plant operator Tepco is liable for suicide
August 27, 2014 - 3:55PM
Anna Fifield and Yuki Oda
Tokyo: A court in Fukushima has ruled that Tokyo Electric Power Co, the Japanese nuclear power plant operator, can be held responsible for the suicide of a woman who became depressed after the 2011 disaster.
The court ordered Tepco to pay $504,000 to Mikio Watanabe and his children after their 58-year-old wife and mother, Hamako, killed herself a few months after the nuclear meltdown that followed the earthquake and tsunami forced them out of their home and destroyed their livelihoods.
The ruling was the first time that the struggling utility had been found liable for a suicide resulting from the accident. The decision could galvanise others seeking redress against the company.
WHO shuts Sierra Leone lab after worker infected with Ebola
By Umaru Fofana and Media Coulibaly
FREETOWN/KINSHASA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it had shut a laboratory in Sierra Leone after a health worker there was infected with Ebola, a move that may hamper efforts to boost the global response to the worst-ever outbreak of the disease.
At least 1,427 people have died and 2,615 have been infected since the disease was detected deep in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March.
The WHO has deployed nearly 400 of its own staff and partner organisations to fight the epidemic of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, which has struck Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. A separate outbreak was confirmed in Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday.
How Libya Became A Country On The Brink Of Collapse
Weeks of fighting escalated in Libya this weekend as anti-government fighters secured control of the country’s main airport in the capital, Tripoli.
A group of pro-government fighters from the western city of Zintan had controlled the airport since the 2011 fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But on Saturday, a coalition of Islamist fighters from the city of Misrata called "Operation Dawn" pushed that group out.
It’s been just a little over three years since the Zintanis and Islamist fighters battled side by side against Gaddafi forces. Yet today, the two groups -- along with smaller supporting militias -- are locked in a vicious fight for economic and political control, pushing the country closer to the brink of collapse. Libya is falling apart, and this is why it matters:
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