Afternoon Brief AFRICA • Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta signed a controversial anti-terrorism law on Friday, over the protest of opposition politicians who say the measure poses a serious threat to civil liberties and free speech. • U.S. authorities on Thursday arrested an American in Uganda for allegedly running a massive international counterfeiting operation. • Senate elections in Liberia, delayed due to the Ebola crisis and other problems, will be held on Saturday. AMERICAS • The Guardian reports that the FBI facilitated high-level negotiations, led by controversial New York attorney Stanley Cohen, to secure the release of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, who was executed by the Islamic State (IS) in November. • The United States executed its lowest number of prisoners in 20 years. • Credit rating agency Fitch has downgraded Venezuelas long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings from B to CCC. ASIA • U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton appeared in a Philippine court on Friday to suspend his trial for allegedly killing a transgender Filipino woman. • The White House on Thursday approved the sale of four used Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile ships to Taiwan, a move that quickly drew the ire of China. • At least 90 people in Roka, a small village in northwest Cambodia, have tested positive for HIV. EUROPE • Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel announced on Thursday that his government will disclose information on hundreds of corporate tax sweetheart deals after threatening to take the European Commission to court in an attempt to keep them secret. • In a reversal of an earlier decision, FIFA announced on Friday that it will publish a version of a controversial, 430-page report detailing allegations of corruption concerning bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. • A Russian court extended the house arrest of anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, currently on trial for allegedly stealing over 30 milion rubles. MIDDLE EAST • Some 8,000 Kurdish peshmerga fighters scored a significant victory against IS on Friday, re-taking Mount Sinjar and freeing thousands of besieged Yazidi people. The Pentagon also announced on Thursday that it had killed three senior IS leaders in airstrikes over the past several weeks. • Only $100 million of the $5.4 billion committed by donors at a recent conference in Cairo to help rebuild Gaza has been delivered, according to the United Nations. • The World Health Organization says that one million people have been wounded during Syrias civil war, and that vaccination rates have plummeted from 90 percent from before the war to 52 percent this year.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:47:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015