Chibok girls: Nigeria ready for Boko Haram negotiations
President Buhari says government prepared to negotiate, but only if Boko Haram can identify a credible leadership.
| Nigeria, Africa, War & Conflict
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he is ready to negotiate with Boko Haram for the release of more than 200 girls kidnapped in April last year.
In a televised press conference on Wednesday, Buhari said that if the armed group could identify a credible leadership then the Nigerian government was "prepared to negotiate with them without any preconditions".
Boko Haram snatched the girls from dormitories in the northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014, sparking international condemnation of former president Goodluck Jonathan's government and military for failing to rescue them.
Taiwan statues donated by Jackie Chan defaced with anti-China graffiti
Qing Dynasty replica dragon and horse heads – given to high-profile museum by pro-Beijing actor – are covered in red paint by unidentified man and woman
Two statues donated by actor Jackie Chan to a newly opened museum in Taiwan were splashed with paint and daubed with anti-China slogans, reflecting growing tensions over Beijing’s influence on the island.
The bronze dragon and horse heads sit in the garden of the new branch of Taipei’s famous National Palace Museum in the southern city of Chiayi and were defaced on Wednesday night, the museum said.
They are replicas of high-profile ancient relics from the Qing Dynasty, seen on the mainland as emblematic of China’s past suffering under foreign invaders.
The animal heads were streaked with red paint and their bases daubed with the words “cultural united front” by two unidentified attackers, the museum said.
Burakumin: Descendants of caste considered 'tainted' face new discrimination in Japan
'Why is this happening to us? Why are we different?'
It was not the kind of letter any mother would want her child to see. “We all hate you,” it read. “No matter how many decades or centuries pass, we will continue to discriminate against you for ever.”
But over recent months, hundreds of residents in a district of Osaka have been opening their mail to discover similar abusive messages – a frightening vestige of a Japanese caste system that was supposed to have been abolished in the 19th century,
“My children asked, ‘Why is this happening to us? Why are we different? Has this been going on for a long time?’” said Masako, a housewife. “I didn’t know what to tell them.”
‘Sinai is safe’: Hiker battles to dispel Egypt security fears
Going for a hike in the Sinai might not sound like the best way to spend a holiday, especially given Egypt’s ongoing terrorism problems on the peninsula. But one hiker has made it his mission to dispel security fears over the region by hiking through the mountains – and thereby showing tourists that it’s safe.
It all seemed so different in the aftermath of Egypt’s 2011 revolution, when the country that gave the world some of its greatest archeological treasures seemed to be at the entrance to a brave new era. Those dreams have been shattered by four years of political turmoil and the return of military rule. Since then, Egypt’s tourism has taken a nosedive, with revenues plunging a staggering 95% according to some estimates.
Sinai - a triangular peninsula that straddles two continents - hasn’t been spared. From southern coastal resorts like Sharm el-Sheikh to its biblical desert interior, the region has long been a major tourist centre. But its tourism industry took a hammering after a Russian airliner packed with holidaymakers crashed in October. Although Egypt insiststhere’s no evidence that the jet was downed by terrorists, Russia firmly believes it was bombed. Reports of increasing terrorist activity on the peninsula, including attacks carried out by the Islamic State group, have frightened away all but the most dedicated tourists.
'Charlie Hebdo' to release special issue on anniversary of attack
One million copies of the special issue will be released, the magazine said. The issue will include select drawings from the cartoonists killed in the January attack.
The French satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" on Wednesday said it would be releasing close to a million copies of a special issue marking the one-year anniversary of a deadly attack on its offices in Paris.
The issue will comprise 32 pages, featuring select drawings from the cartoonists who were killed in the attack, along with works by current staff.
On January 7, 2015, two militants entered the magazine's offices and killed 12 people, the first of a series of attacks that left at least 17 people dead in Paris.
The attacks were claimed by the militant group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
A look at past car accidents involving N. Korean officials
North Korea's announcement that the country's top official in charge of relations with South Korea died in a traffic accident gave few details, triggering questions about the death of a man who was dubbed as a close associate of absolute leader Kim Jong Un.
He's not the only senior North Korean official reported to have died in a car accident. While information in the secretive, authoritarian state is often impossible to confirm, outside observers use the officials' reported feuding with their political opponents to guess who might have been behind their demise. They also speculate the officials might have been driving after overnight drinking parties.
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