Madaya Syria: '400 residents must leave' for medical treatment
- 12 January 2016
- Middle East
Some 400 people in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya need to be urgently evacuated for medical treatment, says UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien.
Mr O'Brien was speaking after the UN Security Council held an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis in the rebel-held town near Damascus.
Earlier, an aid convoy brought food to 40,000 town residents who have been under government siege for months.
The UN says it has received credible reports of people dying of starvation.
Monday's aid delivery was the first allowed into Madaya since mid-October, when the UN's World Food Programme took a month's supply of food rations for 20,000 people.
Simultaneously, aid lorries entered two towns besieged by rebel forces in the northern province of Idlib under a deal between the warring parties.
Uganda's president epitomises Africa's perceived democratic deficit
In seeking a fifth consecutive term in office, Yoweri Museveni perpetuates abuses pioneered by the continent’s post-colonial ‘big men’
As a young man back in 1986, Yoweri Museveni opined that political leaders who overstayed their welcome were at the root of Africa’s problems. Next month, Museveni, now 71, will attempt to extend his 30-year reign as Uganda’s president when he seeks re-election for a fifth consecutive term.
Despite the challenges mounted by seven rival candidates and numerous ongoing problems including falling agricultural incomes, high youth unemployment and endemic corruption, Museveni is expected to win again, albeit on a reduced turnout and by a narrower margin than in the past.
Uganda’s key demographic group comprises under-30s, who account for up to 80% of the population. Their trust in Museveni’s brand of one-man democracy is uncertain. Observers say many young people may not bother to vote in the 18 February polls because the campaign, featuring the usual intimidation, large-scale vote-buying and patronage, is already viewed as neither free nor fair.
Obama 'will close Guantanamo Bay before he leaves office,' with or without Congress
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough promised on Sunday that the Obama Administration would close the prison for good
The clock is ticking for President Barack Obama to make good on one of his biggest promises — closing Guantanamo Bay.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough backed the president on Sunday in what would be an enormous moral victory for the Obama Administration.
“He feels an obligation to the next president. He will fix this so that they don't have to be confronted with the same set of challenges,” Mr McDonough said on Fox News Sunday.
The naval base opened in response to the September 11 attacks and now contains 103 men with 17 prisoners scheduled to be relocated this month. However, when Congress passed their annual spending bill in November, they made sure to restrict President Obama from relocating any Guantanamo detainees to the United States.
Venezuelan Supreme Court declares opposition-controlled congress null and void
Latest update : 2016-01-12
Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the new National Assembly’s decisions are void unless three banned opposition lawmakers are removed from office, deepening a power struggle over the opposition’s new legislative majority.
Already beset by a deep economic crisis, Venezuela now seems to be sliding into a protracted period of political turmoil as both a newly-emboldened opposition and President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government play hardball with each other.
The Supreme Court in December blocked four lawmakers - three opposition and one allied with the government - from taking office after the Socialist Party made allegations of irregularities during last month’s legislative election.
The opposition dubbed the ruling a bid to strip it of its super majority, and defiantly swore in the three barred opposition lawmakers anyway, one of a number of tussles between the newly convened congress and the court.
Abu Bakar Bashir says he was supporting Palestine not terrrorism
Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa
Cilacap: Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has claimed he was wrongly jailed for 15 years on terrorism charges when he was merely donating money to support the Palestinian cause in Gaza.
The extremist preacher, who inspired the Bali bombers, is seeking a judicial review of his 15-year sentence for supporting a terrorist training camp in Aceh.
He told a court in Cilacap on Tuesday that police and prosecutors were insulting Allah when they called military training to defend Islam an act of terror.
Security was tight for the elderly cleric's court appearance in the West Javan town with 1000 police deployed outside the court and other buildings in the town.
Hundreds of supporters attended yelling "Allahu Akbar (God is great)".
'Like coming back to life' says child soldier who escaped ISIS
Updated 0741 GMT (1541 HKT) January 12, 2016
"Nasir" is one of the lucky ones. He managed to escape from the grasp of ISIS, which was training him to be a suicide bomber. He is just 12 years old.
The boy is now reunited with his mother at the Esyan refugee camp in Kurdistan, home to almost 15,000 Yazidis fleeing ISIS. He's asked CNN not to broadcast his face or voice, or to disclose his real name.
"There were 60 of us," Nasir says. "The scariest times for us all were when the airstrikes happened. They'd lead all of us underground into the tunnels to hide. They told us the Americans, the unbelievers, were trying to kill us but they, the fighters, they loved us. They would look after us better than our parents.
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